Customer Reviews

Rummies

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Another great book by the author of "Jaws", "Beast" and the incredibly beautiful "Girl From the Sea of Cortez". This is not about sea monsters, but rather the monster that is alcoholism. Scott Preston doesn't have a problem. Its everyone else that does. It must be a metabolic thing why he is the only one sweating on the bus...It must be the waitresses problem that she is watching to see if he is going to spill his drink... and after the intervention he will agree to get treatment just to shut his family up...and then he will go have a few more... As sad as people can be when they have a drinking problem, Benchley does a great job of making Preston very likeable and unbelievably witty and clever. The reader almost wants him to be able to go have a drink. This book is very lighthearted despite its dark subject matter. Once in rehab, Preston meets a cast of characters that rivals the core group from One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest... And that's when the murder takes place. From there the book increases in suspense and pace. It's amazing how much entertainment Benchley can squeeze into 250 pages - moreover, its amazing that this man is known for monster books and not his precision wit and biting social commentary.
Buy this book - its 12 steps worth taking.

Relic113

A High Flying editor in a New York publishing firm is forced into rehab by his family and his boss. Of course Scott isn't really an alcoholic. He just needs two double vodkas to start the day. From the hilarious opening sequence all the way to the delightfully wicked ending, Rummies is a simple story, brilliantly told. While it is impossible to ignore the humor in the story Rummies the plot evolves in such a way that it is also a deeply touching and uplifting story. In Scott Preston, Peter Benchley has created an engaging hero for the masses out of an upper middle class WASP. No easy feat. Intelligent and cynical but vulnerable enough to be easily identified with. Throw in a twisted collection of celebrity junkies, booze sodden actresses and hilarious dropouts not to mention an institutional patriach who may not be all that he seems and you have Rummies. Not often can a book make you laugh out loud, but believe it, this one will.

A realistic description of how an alcoholic, going into a rehab centre as a result of an intervention, views himself and those around him is how this story starts. Instead of a maudling, self pitying story, there is an outside horror going on that gives the "rummy" a chance to do something good for someone else while recovering. A real inspiration. I love this book and would really like to see it made into a movie. It's very funny and touching. I've never laughed out loud so many times when reading a book. It's about time it was re-issued. I've loaned my copy out and lost it many times. I keep getting "new" ones at garage sales. I'd buy a new copy if I could. One of my favorite books.

Rummies is second only to The Girl of the Sea of Cortez as Peter Benhcley's best story. A New York executive has an intervention pulled on him and is whisked away to a rehab facility in Arizona. What goes on there is both funny and infuriating. Benchley seems to understand the alcoholic's twisted logic well and his main character's awakening to his own personal problems and failings ring true. There is a suspense subplot revolving around less than ethical shenanigans at the facility, just to keep the story spicy. An excellent book.

Early in his career, those who thought Benchley would follow the comical career of his grandfather and father were wrong. He wrote horror and chilled our blood for ages (JAWS, THE DEEP, THE ISLAND), then made us re-love the see w/ a lighter, more sentimental novel (THE GIRL OF THE SEA OF CORTEZ). After that? He broke into comedy with Q-CLEARANCE (buy it or you'll regret it) and finally, RUMMIES. RUMMIES is what American comedy is---funny, twisted, and utterly fun. From the first page, when backed into a corner "like a Playboy bunny" by his wife, friends, and colleauges to the end, when our hero "Will take care of 'em, Mr. President, don't worry," the reader is confronted with non-stop laughs. Read it

When Scott Preston has four double vodkas on his way to work one time too many, he finds himself the subject of an intervention. He's packed off to the Banner Clinic, run by Stone Banner, a celebrity who is idolized by the public. He gets to the clinic, where he certainly doesn't feel like he belongs, the same day as another guy dressed in a rabbit suit, and proceeds to meet a unique array of patients. There's tattooed Hector, who seems to be spending his life bouncing from one treatment center to another, Puffguts, who was sent to treatment in lieu of a mob drowning, Cheryl, who's incredibly thin and timid, and the lovely Priscilla, who intrigues Scott against his better judgment. They spend their days going to therapy and chain smoking cigarettes, and Scott begins to turn around under the tutelage of their counselor Marcia. Just when Scott seems to be settling into life in treatment, however, everything goes awry. A famous actress who graduated from the clinic shortly after Scott's arrival is found dead in the desert, either the victim of a long fall or a hit and run. Then their counselors, and then Priscilla, disappear. Something is wrong at the Banner Clinic, and Scott seems to be the only patient levelheaded enough to come up with a plan to save them all.

The name Peter Benchley is practically synonymous with the sea, but in this book he proves he doesn't need a watery background to craft a good story. This is a book largely about addiction treatment with a bit of intrigue thrown in, but even without the intrigue I would have liked it. Benchley writes with an engaging sense of humor and his protagonist's journey from denial to acceptance was actually a lot of fun. Though we don't see him on the current best seller lists, Benchley's work is well worth reading.