Gotham Diaries [Hardcover]

Tonya Lewis Lee (Author), Crystal Mccrary Anthony (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2004

An uproarious work of social satire by Tonya Lewis Lee and Crystal McCrary Anthony, who give us an exclusive peek into the world of super-rich, super-connected African Americans.

Lauren is trying to be an independent woman by starting her own documentary film company, but it's difficult when you're married to Ed Thomas, one of the wealthiest African-American businessmen in the country -- particularly when he seems to have a roving eye. Manny is an up-and-coming gay real estate agent who arrived in Manhattan from Alabama with only the clothes on his back. He's made his way to the top of his profession -- yet he still wants more and is intent on charming his way into riches to keep his gorgeous live-in boyfriend happy. Tandy is one of the powerful "ladies who lunch" until her husband's death reveals his shocking financial problems. Now, she's desperate to reinvent herself and must find a new source of money.

In this compelling first novel, authors Tonya Lewis Lee and Crystal McCrary Anthony give us a rare glimpse inside the fashionable and urbane world of New York's chic African-American society and its incumbent scandals, foibles, and skeletons. Gotham Diaries is a gripping novel, filled with fascinating characters and a plot that won't let go.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Tonya Lewis Lee and Crystal McCrary Anthony's Gotham Diaries is a savvy, witty, and intriguing expose of the upper echelons of New York's African American society. At the center of the story is Manny Marks, an ambitious native of Alabama who finds success as the realtor to elite clients including Lauren Thomas, wife of billionaire Ed Thomas, whose wandering eye makes Lauren doubt her worth as a wife and a woman. Things heat up when Tandy Brooks, a widowed socialite, finds herself broke and desperate, and calls on Manny to help cure her of her financial woes. Along the way, secondary characters like the déclassé-yet-filthy-rich Coffee and Daryl Raye add laughter and absurdity when Manny takes them on an apartment tour and finds himself kowtowing to their Feng Shui specialist Niche ("I like the elevators ... the smoky mirrors are very metaphorical...").

A welcome addition to the growing list of Gossip Lit novels that include favorites such as The Devil Wears Prada and Bling, what Gotham Diaries lacks in editorial sophistication it most certainly makes up for in authenticity. Written by the wives of two men who clearly have access to these circles (Lewis Lee is the wife of filmmaker Spike Lee and McCrary Anthony's husband is former New York Knick Greg Anthony), Gotham Diaries is nothing if not thorough in its complete exposure of the pitfalls that often accompany extreme wealth. And while no character is particularly likeable, which can make it difficult for readers to identify with anyone, it hardly seems to matter. For Gotham Diaries does exactly what its title suggests--it offers readers an insider's glance into a world few of us will ever actually experience. --Gisele Toueg

From Publishers Weekly

Lauren Thomas, Wharton graduate, size-four beauty and rising director on the Style Channel, wants to be admired as herself, not just as the wife of Ed Thomas, billionaire baron of New York African-American society. The authors know whereof they speak, being married, respectively, to filmmaker Spike Lee and former Knicks player and ESPN commentator Greg Anthony. If Stephen Carter was the Henry James of old black money with The Emperor of Ocean Park, the Lee/Anthony team is the Edith Wharton of new black money. As Lauren rises in selfhood, her best friends tumble: Manny Marks, the gay realtor who grew up dirt-poor, and widow Tandy Brooks, who at age 51 is dethroned as the duchess of philanthropy because her despised husband left her in debt. Vicious, funny, juicy, with lots of antic real estate scenes, the story is driven by a plot in which Manny and Tandy collude to swindle Lauren and Ed. The dual authorship sometimes shows at the seams, with Tandy "cocoa-brown" on one page and "caramel" on another; dialogue drags, and brand names crowd the pages. But the insider authority carries the day.
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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (June 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401301193
• ISBN-13: 978-1401301194
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,385,849 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Bold & Beautiful, June 25, 2004

By 

Phyllis Rhodes (Orlando, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gotham Diaries (Hardcover)

Welcome to Manhattan and into the lives of the rich and famous. The Gotham Diaries is Tonya Lewis Lee and Crystal McCrary Anthony's debut into the "Chick Lit" genre. It is most definitely a perfect choice for a summertime getaway-a mixed blend of soap-opera type drama with a combination of middling to quite flamboyant and comical characters.

The plot mainly centers on an extremely ambitious, gay, high-end real estate broker (Manny), a recently widowed and indebted socialite (Tandy), and an "in-search-of-self" naive billionaire's wife (Lauren). Lauren believes Manny and Tandy are her friends, but each one has their own self-serving agenda. The reader is pulled into uptown living through Manny's social calendar, client drama, and his relationship with his boy-toy, supermodel lover. Manny is largely driven to keep his lover happy (usually with expensive gifts) and secure his place among Manhattan's elite regardless of the costs. Tandy's plan to remain on top of Manhattan's social circle despite being penniless involves both Manny and an unsuspecting Lauren. Lauren's desire is to pursue a career amid restlessness and aching suspicions that her husband who is thirty years her senior is having an affair.

After establishing each of the key character's history, the focus of the story is shifted to a real estate deal that reeks of betrayal and deception and will cause dissension among the "friends." The last one standing comes into their own and serves their own brand of justice - destroying the hopes and dreams of the others in the process.

This is a refreshing and often times funny novel with a strong underlying intensity that yields a page-turning reading experience. Hopefully this isn't the last we hear about the affairs of Tandy, Manny, and Lauren - I'd like to see more of them soon. (...)

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Gotham Diaries, July 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Gotham Diaries (Hardcover)

This book was a quick and amusing read, but I have to agree with the reviewer who wondered what happened to the editing. It is choppy with poor set-ups and flashbacks. It never delves deeply into character motivation and background, thus making it hard to empathize with, connect to or be really intrigued by any character. For example, Ed Thomas, by the conclusion of the book, was reduced to a sniveling idiot -- totally unrealistic for a man as powerful as he is portrayed to be. Though the authors are part of the black New York City plutocracy, they offer few meaningful insights regarding the true complexitiy of this group. Instead there are merely stereotypes, particularly of the sports and entertainment nouveau riche(ironically the two areas from which the authors derive their wealth and position). Mrs. Lewis Lee said in a recent Wall Street Journal article that spoke to the inclusion of the African American upper class in the social bible, Town and Country, that the magazines treats "people of color in a way that seems effortless"; unfortunately, she was unable to do the same in her book. While it's a good beach read, borrow, do not buy this book.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Good Life?, July 2, 2004

By 

The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gotham Diaries (Hardcover)

GOTHAM DIARIES is a candid look into the cutthroat world of New York City's harsh haute monde penned by two insiders: Tonya Lewis Lee is Spike Lee's wife and Crystal McCrary Anthony was the wife of former NBA star Greg Anthony. From old money matrons to newly rich rap stars, the characters abound in this brazen book.

First up in this colorful cast is Manny, a country mouse turned city mouse who built a highly successful career as a real estate broker for the most elite of clients. However, Manny has two very expensive habits in his boy toy and his dream to be inside the Big Apple's upper crust social circle.

Tandy is a socialite like no other. She's always been one of the most involved philanthropists in the city, but when her husband dies and leaves her with more debts than money, Tandy sees her social life flash before her eyes. Not to be outdone, she devises a scheme to get her back on her social butterfly course.

Lauren Thomas married an older man who happens to be a billionaire. Lauren, an aspiring filmmaker, is turned off by the media attention and social pressure that comes along with being a powerfully rich man's wife. She learns, though, that all that glitters isn't gold, and that the one person she can trust is herself.

GOTHAM DIARIES is as enthralling, fast, and captivating as the city in which it is set. Lee and Anthony write flawlessly together; a match made in literary heaven. I was enraptured by the lives of these people and by the setting of the city that never sleeps. Unable to put this book down for long, I feverishly devoured its contents.

Reviewed by CandaceK
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers