In this comic novel by one of America's funniest writers, "the travails of (the) protagonist, a trust-funded trendoid named Guy, his ditzy clubland bride Venice, and their transvestite housekeeper, Licky Barnes, are very perky indeed. . . . "Social Disease" . . . is really about the three major issues of our time: sex, hair, and the telephone" (Paul Rudnick, "New York Magazine").
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Paul Rudnick, famous for Hollywood hits such as Addams Family Values and Jeffrey first found fame as a novelist. Social Disease, his 1986 comic masterpiece, has just been reissued and is as funny as it was a decade ago. Setting his book at the height of pre-AIDS Manhattan club life, Rudnick lampoons not only disco madness and Studio 54, but also the megalomania engendered by an out-of-control celebrity culture that promotes style over substance, money over morals. Like Evelyn Waugh 's lacerating Vile Bodies, Rudnick's Social Disease is a satire that defines our times even as it deflates our sense of self importance.
From Publishers Weekly
A doorman at the fashionable Club de, Guy Huber is mistakenly thought to have kidnapped the fun-loving wives of a rich sheik, after which he ends up in a resort-like prison. PW praised Rudnick's "gifted eye" and "smooth, sentient style" but noted that this first novel is "light and insubstantial."
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Funniest book I've ever read.,
By pen@groundzero.net (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Social Disease (Paperback)
Obviously, giving this book a "10" rating may seem a bit much. It's no Madame Bovary, afterall.
But this book is tremendously funny. A slice of life from the go-go 80's new york after-hours club/trust-fund scene, Rudnick tosses out stomach-muscle-aching lines sometimes so fast, it's hard to keep up.
The one-liners alone are worth the read.
I had the pleasure of reading this book on a plane. Reading a book that forces you to laugh out loud in an enclosed public area is bad enough, but when the cover is emblazoned with the title "Social Disease," the stares you get are even more glaring than usual.
Very fun. Read it tonight.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lively and Hilarious Picture of Wilder and Weirder Days.,
By
This review is from: Social Disease (Paperback)
"Social Disease" is an appreciative satire of 1980s Manhattan club culture before AIDS struck and pill-popping went underground. Guy is a sleepy "Pollyanna in leather", whose family's fortune, made in domestic sparkling wine, supports an idle, hedonistic lifestyle. He and his intoxicating bride Venice start their parade of parties each night at Club de, the current hot spot for New York's hippest freaks, beauties, and glitterati. When fashion plate and fellow exemplar of indolence Licky Banes gets Guy a job to appease his parents, it looks like trust fund babies and employment might not mix.
The essence of "Social Disease" is its descriptions of people and places. Paul Rudnick portrays the irresponsible, superficial nightcrawlers at Club de vividly and incisively. They require no exaggeration. They're hilarious and vapid but not unsympathetic. Guy is sort of lovable. Even the obnoxious motormouth Licky is too funny to annoy for long. And readers will spend inordinate amounts of time trying to picture Venice. "Social Disease" is a witty trip back to a time before "family values" and obsessive careerism, that doesn't hesitate to lampoon, criticize or to celebrate the sybarites.
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
favorite book, ever,
This review is from: Social Disease (Paperback)
A fantastic read! Completely enjoyable. Hip, light, insightful, over-the-top hysterical. Nice to have it re-released.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
Citations (learn more)
6
books
cite this book:
See all 6 books citing this book
- Langue and Parole in Synchronic and Diachronic Perspective by C. Beedham on page 177
- Last Laughs (Studies in Gender and Culture) by Regina Barreca on page 265
- Uncle Mame: The Life of Patrick Dennis by Eric Myers in Back Matter
- Uncle Mame: The Life Of Patrick Dennis by Eric Myers in Back Matter
- Meaning and Grammar: Cross-Linguistic Perspectives (Empirical Approaches to Language Typology) by Michel Kefer on page 365
See all 6 books citing this book
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
