Gin Lane: A Novel of Southampton [Mass Market Paperback]

James Brady (Author)

Book Description

Series: Gin Lane | Publication Date: May 15, 1999

No one chronicles the hilariously haughty world of the Hamptons better than Parade columnist and bestselling author James Brady. Now, in his second novel of the Hamptons, Brady invites you to take a stroll along Gin Lane, where name-dropping, celebrity spotting, and attempted murder heat up the glistening sands of New York's hottest summer haunt.

Everyone from the Southampton's moneyed WASPs to the local church elders has their noses out of joint over the arrival of offensively irreverent morning DJ "Cowboy" Dils-- and his buffoonish entourage of radio sidekicks-- to the perfectly manicured and utterly intolerant Gin Lane. Loud, lewd, and out to ruffle more than a few feathers, Cowboy doesn't expect a block party in his honor, but he certainly doesn't anticipate several attempts on his life. When Parade reporter Beecher Stowe and his lovely partner Alix Dunraven step in to write the hottest story of the summer, their efforts are somewhat sidetracked by a prominent local wedding, a possible visit from the President, and the egregious antics of Cowboy & Co. Now Beecher and Alix are determined to get to the bottom of this sizable sand dune, leaving no shell unturned and no fishy motive unchecked.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fans of Parade and Advertising Age columnist Brady (The Marines of Autumn) will relish this well-written memoir of his front-line tour of duty with the U.S. Marines in Korea. Noting that he entered the war only after scheming to avoid the draft, Brady reveals that he went to Korea terrorized by a photograph in a popular magazine depicting the unrelenting cold of far-off Korea. The young Brady's first sojourn there does nothing to dispel his fear, but as time wears on the young marine, working as a battalion intelligence officer, becomes something of an old hand, if not always at warfare itself. (Not quite bawdy, the memoir has its share of hangovers, ladies of the night and lonely young men in foxholes.) But when Lieutenant Brady is called on to move his section at 2 a.m., with full field packs, several days' rations and "one unit of fire," for a mere exercise or "field problem," readers feel the tension along with the menAmore so when Brady & co. are then sent to find out if there are any "chinks on Yoke," a nearby hill. Throughout, unit mates like Duke, who need the occasional boxing match to blow off steam, the drunken Hoops, and Fitz, "the best of us, who just wanted to carry a gun for the rest of his life" (and who ended up "breaking heads for Ford" as a security guard), come vividly to life. This lively account offers yet another glimpse of the forgotten war, and its easy wit and smarts should win the popular pundit even more readers.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Tedium in excelsis as Advertising Age and Parade columnist Brady extends his line of novels about wealthy Long Islanders begun with Further Lane (1997). Earlier, Brady entertained with elaborate sketches of New York worlds of high fashion, the press, and publishing, his vignettes jam-packed with dropped names and celebrity twits. This time, we find him moving from East Hampton's Further Lane and the Maidstone Club to Southampton's great walled houses and the elegance of Gin Lane and its stuffy Meadow Club. Still narrating is Beecher Stowe IV, a journalist whose head is crammed with more local lore than could interest even the most inbred native. Reading the present novel is like sorting through a landfill of glittering bitchery and rubbish poured from a motormouth whose brain is chockablock with gossip columns. The story tells of a barbed and raspy Don Imuslike morning chat-show host, Leicester ``Cowboy'' Dils, who moves onto Gin Lane only to win many snobbish enemies with the vaunting scope of his gauche Gatsbyesque longing for diehard gentleman status. Recently, his wit has also drawn the blood of the POTUS (President of the United States) regarding the Ps dalliances. And--ahh!--the POTUS is about to visit Gin Lane. When Dils goes out for a midnight run, someone tries to kill him with a black Rolls-Royce. When that fails, an attempt with a golf cart nearly works. Could these nasty tricks have anything to do with superbillionaire of broadcasting Roger Champion, 80 and impotent, who is Dils's boss and lives down the lane with Dils's ex-gir1friend, former actress Slim Norris Champion, 40? Is Champion's backing of a racetrack scheme with sleazy Wyseman Clagett tied in somehow with his outrage at Cowboy Dils? Not up to Nelson DeMille's vastly more focused The Gold Coast, which details a similar Fitzgeraldian legend. But Brady fans litter the landscape, and may disagree. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 314 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; First St. Martin's Press Paperback Edition 1999 (Full Number Line) edition (May 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312967063
• ISBN-13: 978-0312967062
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 1.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,331,189 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The late JAMES BRADY commanded a Marine rifle platoon during the Korean War and was awarded a Bronze Star for valor. For more than two decades, he wrote the "In Step With" column for Parade. He also wrote a column for Forbes.com. He authored eighteen books, among them several on the Marines, including the nonfiction Why Marines Fight and the New York Times bestselling novel The Marines of Autumn.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars no plot..just names, July 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Gin Lane: A Novel of Southampton (Mass Market Paperback)

The back cover was more interesting than anything between the covers. This was my first James Brady novel...perhaps I was expecting something else. The reader IS warned that you needed to be familiar with the Hamptons..perhaps that was my problem.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I really wanted to like this book., December 27, 2000

By 

Mary G. Longorio "Texasbookgirl" (Eagle Mountain, UT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gin Lane: A Novel of Southampton (Hardcover)

Fresh off reading A Hampton's Christmas, I wanted to like Gin Lane. I enjoy James Brady's mixing of the well-known and the fictional and have not found so likeable character as Beecher Stowe IV in a long time. And it is fun to try to place a name on the characters you should know, but their real names aren't being used. This was definitely a step above The House That Ate the Hamptons and its "credits" (including Lady Alix's nipple ring) on the inside printer's page. This book lacked the soul of the Hampoton's christmas book, and was a pleasant diversion, but not as good as I had hoped.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars As Shallow as the Shinnecock Shoal!, August 31, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Gin Lane: A Novel of Southampton (Hardcover)

Spending youthful summers in Southampton gave me a reason to purchase the book. After finishing it, I'll stick with my memories! A few interesting characters,who were never developed and an ending that would have been welcomed after chapter 3.