Paris's most famous madame considers penning her memoirs and exposing the scandalous secrets of some rich and powerful men, but someone tries to silence her with a bullet through the window of her limousine. Reprint.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
With her sleek tale of haute hookers, literary agent/ghostwriter Goldberg proves to have a sure hand with irresistible commercial fiction. Here she chronicles the adventures of three of Madame Cleo's exquisite call girls, who enjoy jet travel, luxury hotels, lavish clothes and gala hobnobbing with sheikhs and lords while trying to snare rich spouses. The novel opens with a shoot-out, as Madame Cleo, affluent commander of an elite "powder puff army" and procuress to the world's loftiest johns, escapes assassination. Evidently a past client fears Cleo may publish her memoirs--she needs cash to avoid being jailed for tax evasion. In jeopardy, Madame hides in her Paris apartment, hires a live-in writer and starts talking. With excellently rendered details, she relates in-depth bios of her best girls and how they entered "the life": dyslexic SueBee, the naive Texan; elegant Sandrine, betrayed by her fashion mogul mother; and slangy, Brooklyn-bred Angel, plotting to build a rival escort empire. While the novel seldom pries into the bedchamber's erotic joys, there are splendid satirical sequences to titillate the reader, e.g., client kinkiness; the posh finishing school for call girls; the professional prostitutes' convention. Noteworthy too are the hardworking literary folk behind the scenes: ghostwriter Peter and chubby, hotshot editor Fedalia, both hoping to get rich on the memoirs. Goldberg, whose own literary clientele includes a few tony ex-courtesans, delivers an informed, amusing, fantasy-strewn entertainment that builds to a good-humored denouement. Literary Guild alternate; Doubleday Book Club selection.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews
Three top-of-the-line international call girls and their Parisian madame befuddle an American journalist who can't figure out whether he has been commissioned to tell all or nothing about their very scandalous, very entertaining lives. Free of the restraints of co-authoring (with Sandy Till Robinson, Friends in High Places, 1979) and ghostwriting, author Goldberg cuts loose and may never have to go back to the old grind. The story drips with as many furs and gems as a Collins or Sheldon, but everyone seems to be having much more fun and there is no poky, unbelievable high finance or business mumbo-jumbo in this entertaining diversion about sex, loyalty, love, money, romance, and writing. Reporter Peter Shea's first contact with one of procuress-to-the-powerful Madame Cleo's splendidly skilled employees at a posh orgiastic do outside Paris was smashing and never-to-be-forgotten, but the home office heard about it and Peter got the axe. Several years later, after painfully rebuilding his career with the help of his clever, zaftig, and shamelessly lovelorn editor, Peter is offered the chance to ghost the memoirs of Madame Cleo, who is now in the clutches of the French IRS and badly in need of big money. Word of Madame's decision to Tell All has already resulted in an attempt on her life, and, given the wealth and power of her clientele, there's no end of suspects. It's a bit frightening, but a million-dollar advance is enough to take care of any reservations Peter might have, and he settles into one of Madame's hotels to begin taping her richly fascinating memories. But the memories are all about her star American pupils and never about herself. Fascinating and amusing as the girls may be, Peter was hired to write about Madame, and he persists until, with help from the girls themselves, Cleo's tragically romantic story comes to light. Good-natured, lightly amoral entertainment. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good quick read you can't put down,
By A Customer
This review is from: MADAME CLEO'S GIRLS (Hardcover)
Goldberg writes a fast easy read similar to Sheldon, whom I just love. Very interesting topic, gets you going, but the end leaves something to be desired. Too cliche.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
MY ABSOLUTELY FAVORITE BOOK,
By
This review is from: Madame Cleo's Girls (Hardcover)
Have ordered lots of books through Amazon.. this is my first review. And only because only I see only one previous review and it is not good enough in my opinion!
I first bought the book some years ago at a used store, then traded it for other used books (I read A LOT). AND .... regreted it ... badly! Finally a few years later I found another copy. Boy was I glad. Read it once more in 2002, and have just started reading it again now (March 06). My favorites are Sindey Sheldon, Baldacci, Ken Follett, Wilbur Smith plus plus, but NO ONE BOOK is in my opionion a greater read than Madame Cleo's Girls. Wish so much she would have written more like this. Are you still out there, Lucianne? Please ... one more book?
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great,
This review is from: Madame Cleo's Girls (Paperback)
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Interesting topic and characters that kept me engaged. A definite page turner from beginning to end.
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