Customer Reviews

People Like Us: A Novel

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4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

"People Like Us" is a very 80's novel about the rich who are supposed to be different from you and me. It is a story about the hautest of the haute New York society in the latter half of the 1980's, a time when the rich rushed off in limousines to the most exclusive parties every night, oblivious to and unconcerned about the homeless who camped out in cardboard boxes on the sidewalks outside their luxury condos. It brings us the creme de la creme of the old line WASPs in the Social Register who take themselves terribly seriously, much more so than anyone else does. They are a dying breed and it's probably just as well.

At the very top of the pile, breathing the rarified air of the upper strata of New York society, sits the Altemus/VanDegan family, led by Lil Altemus and her brother Laurance VanDegan, quintessential snobs, sure of their self-worth, loathing the "new money" that is invading their sacrosanct circle of friends and acquaintances. Lil's son, Hubie, is a disappointment to his family; he's gay, kicked out of Harvard for cheating on a Spanish exam ("the language of maids" huffs his uncle Laurance), and hopelessly in love with his Puerto Rican hustler boyfriend Juanito; and her daughter Justine marries a TV anchorman, Bernard Slatkin, whose name will most definitely not be found in the Social Register. Charging headlong into this formerly impenetrable social ring is Elias Renthal, who has made billions of dollars on Wall Street through hostile takeovers and financial wizardry, and his beautiful, ambitious wife Ruby.

Observing from the sidelines and taking notes is Gus Bailey, the ever-present "spare man", available to squire single ladies to dinners, balls, etc. Gus had his own agenda, however, and when he finally swings from observation into action, he makes some very large waves. His mission accomplished, Gus looks around him at the shallowness and narrow-mindedness of the society he moved so effortlessly into, and comes to the conclusion that the reader probably arrived at before the end of the second chapter; namely, that "this ain't it".

Dominic Dunne knows the kind of people he writes about and he is an acute and astute observer. We see Lil Altemus in all her vanity, her shallowness, her conceit and we realize, finally, how pathetic she is; Justine wins our respect by her determination not to be a "lady who lunches" like her mother and her mother's friends; and poor Hubie is a genuinely tragic figure, fitting neither into the world he was born into or his lover's world he tries to fit into. The most interesting figure in this book, however, is Ruby Renthal; pushy to an extreme but extremely likeable nonetheless, and possessing an integrity which places her far above the socialites who look down on her as a new-money, no-class upstart.

"People Like Us" by no means falls into the category of serious literature and it doesn't try to; but it's an enjoyable read and shines a harsh light into a closed society which doesn't look all that appetizing once its seamier side is exposed. Maybe the rich aren't all that different after all.

Judy Lind

This was my third Dominick Dunne, having already read A Season in Purgatory and An Inconvenient Woman. In those, heh-hmm, novels, Dunne delved well inside what appears to be his favorite topic: the wealthy and powerful who get away with (or try to get away with) crime. Here, Dunne chronicles the life of the New York upperclass from the perspective of a man haunted by his own demons, placing crime in the past and delaing with its after-effects head-on.

This novel basically reveals how thoroughly morally bankrupt (parts of) the upperclass can be, with a devilish leading lady, plenty of dynamic newcomers, enough tragedy to make the work compelling, and titillating sexual subplots. I only wish I could figure out which real-life people Dunne's actually writing about.

Technically: the literature is fresh and revealing, as Dunne finds yet another way to work his masterful craft; compare his seemless persona-jumping in A Season in Purgatory. Although I wouldn't recommend s! tarting to read Dunne's "novels" with People Like Us, it is worth the experience.

Dominick Dunne's many books are consistently excellent, and PEOPLE LIKE US is no exception to this rule.

Like virtually all of his novels, PEOPLE LIKE US was inspired by real people and real events. As always, Dunne provides an insider's view of the life of the rich and famous. Here, Dunne details the conflict between the old society money and the newly minted billionaires who arrived in Manhattan at the end of the financially over-heated 1980's.

It's fun, in hindsight, to figure out on whom he based some of his characters. Any reader who remembers those days will say, "Oh, that's Mr. T...and that's Mrs. G. And that restaurant is M, and the handsome newscaster, the interior designer, etc., must be...."

As ever, Dunne's writing is so facile that the pages just fly. Quite a story he weaves, too, with lots of memories of a fascinating period of modern history.

This book is a gossipy, fascinating, fictional look at the wealthy and their values. Of course, it's all about money and power, and the old guard having to put up with social interaction with the nouveau riche whose social skills have not quite caught up with their financial well-being. Central to the plot are Elias and Ruby Renthal whose somewhat shady backgrounds at first scandalize the established social gentry, but who eventually become social scions by virtue of their lavish parties and improved manners. Woven among the phony, materialistic values are a few characters who show refreshingly genuine emotions of love and selflessness. This is an interesting study of a group of people who indeed have more money than sense.

I loved this book- there are many, many characters and yet the book flows smoothly and is entertaining and satisfying from beginning to end. I've read this book three times in the last ten years and each time, I feel like I'm revisiting old friends.

I started reading this book on the plane out for a weekend trip, continued reading it in the hotel, and finished reading it on the plane home. It was easy to read and hard to put down. The story just flowed from start to finish. Dominick Dunne has the gift of words. I highly recommend this book and any other book by this fine author.

This is a great companion book to The Bonfire of the Vanities. I have been a longtime fan of Dunne's writing for Vanity Fair, but this was the first piece of fiction by him that I have read, and I wasn't disappointed. This book is fun, gossipy, and a real page-turner. Is it important literature? No. But who cares? If you like books about High Society or the New York social scene, this one's for you.

I always enjoy Domenick Dunne. I had heard of this book as it is an older one but had never gotten around to reading it before. I was not disappointed!! Always a surprise twist. Dunne is a fascinating writer.

I loved this story. It focused on new vs. old money and how they viewed each other and the world around them. At times, it was a tad slow but interesting nonetheless. I enjoyed the quirky humor of these characters and their money. There were a lot of different characters involved and I enjoyed all of them. This was definately a worthwhile book to read. Gus Bailey as a journalist who observes all of the activity is a charming character and I was rooting for him in the end.

People Like Us has been the one Dunne novel I could not identify as to the real life source, a familiar form of inspiration for Dunne. That aside,the author speaks through the voice of one Gus Bailey, journalist and man about town, probably drawing from his own post divorce life in New York society. The story is a sparkling commentary on the New York elite of the eighties, contrasting the old guard, a family named Altemus, and social climbers, the Renthals. I particularly liked this book because of the character of Ruby Renthal, whose attempt to become a true part of her new social set is fraught with endless tricky detail. Not only must she work at charming her decorator (a facsimile of the famous Sister Parrish) and throw perfect parties with perfect accents (she humorously lets drop how convenient it was to buy cast off dinnerware from the Rothechildes - since they use the same monogram!), but she must keep after her own husband and drag him up to speed as well. Surprisingly, underneath it all Ruby really does have a good heart, and it's easy to root for her even as her world spins out of control. In general, the book has many nostalgic reminders of what it was like to live through the lavish eighties. For a Dunne fan, one of his best.