South Beach: The Novel [Paperback]

Brian Antoni (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 21, 2008

Gabriel Tucker is a globe-trotting, trust fund–endowed twenty-nine-year-old who suddenly finds himself penniless and alone in the world, except for an old Miami Beach apartment building named the Venus De Milo Arms, the last thing of value left to him by his now-vanished family. Lacking skills or resources, he heads to Miami Beach to reconstruct his life, finding himself neighbors with an unlikely mix of tenants: an elderly Holocaust survivor, a lip-synching drag queen, a cynical two-bit gossip columnist, and a rebellious young performance artist who will eventually capture his heart. Within days, Gabriel is thrust into the outrageous world of South Beach, Miami of the nineties: temptations, quick fortunes, mountains of drugs, notorious murders, nonstop sex, and beautiful women (and men) for sale (or rent) are the order of the day. He is a ringside witness to the excesses and intrigues of Italian fashion empires, Cuban refugee supermodels, rapacious German developers, old-fashioned crooked politicians, and a cast of characters that would make Caligula blush. It is in South Beach that Gabriel will eventually discover the long-buried mysteries of his family and find a soul he never imagined he had and a love he never dreamed he deserved.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gabriel Tucker's gargantuan trust fund has allowed him to spend his life traveling and partying, so he's none too pleased to receive a letter informing him that his uncle has blown all the money in the trust, and the only thing Gabriel has left is a crumbling hotel on South Beach. Gabriel finds the Venus De Milo Arms inhabited by a lip-synching tranny, an AIDS-afflicted gossip columnist, an elderly woman obsessed with her wardrobe and a performance artist named Marina, whom Gabriel promptly falls in love with. Their lives intertwine along with those of a Cuban refugee-cum-supermodel and a fashion designer obsessed with making South Beach's gaudy dilapidation the new chic. As Marina struggles with the past that keeps her from returning Gabriel's affection and the Venus de Milo Arms is threatened with becoming the next pile of rubble on the road to progress, Gabriel starts to realize that the old hotel may be the only place in the world that he can call home. Antoni delights in describing in pornographic detail the absurdities of South Beach (drugs, sex, freakish locals), but he never gets beneath South Beach's chipped veneer. The light treatment has its moments, but it isn't quite satisfying. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Although its fanciful art deco buildings have fallen into disrepair, as have their now elderly denizens, South Beach suddenly gets its glow back. Brazen hedonism and celebrity mania are in full force when trust-fund vagabond Gabriel Tucker arrives to claim all that’s left of his inheritance. Not only does he own the dilapidated Venus de Milo Arms (Antoni tosses out jokes like a reveler throwing candy from a carnival float), he also acquires its endearing, if damaged, tenants. There’s Pandora, a mute rape-survivor transvestite; performance artist and cancer survivor Marina; gossip-columnist Skip, with full-blown AIDS; Mera, a Holocaust survivor and fairy-godmother bookie; and Jesus, a Cuban raft refugee turned fashion model. As they band together to help each other and save Venus de Milo Arms from the wrecking ball, Antoni, long on the scene (his 10-page dedication is a veritable South Beach registry), mischievously and triumphantly combines explicit sexual encounters with keen, hilarious social commentary and genuine compassion to create a love letter to a crazy place and a sweet tale of friendship, succor, and love. --Donna Seaman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press, Black Cat (January 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802170439
• ISBN-13: 978-0802170439
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #886,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary, March 8, 2008

By 

Gwen R. Cooper (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: South Beach: The Novel (Paperback)

What sets Brian Antoni among the upper echelon of novelists is his ability to capture the nuanced, visceral spirit of a particular time and place. He does this not merely by reciting details (although there is a wealth of detailed description here) but by infusing every word of his novel with the tangible feeling of what South Beach, the place, was like before it became "South Beach" the brand.

If this were all Antoni had done, "South Beach" would be worth reading. But Antoni also populates this surprisingly tender and occasionally prurient novel with an unforgettable cast of characters, who would seem almost too interesting to be true if the author hadn't shown such a deft hand in making them feel real. You may never have met people quite this outrageous in your own life, but you'll relate to them. Antoni's characters live, love, and party to frequent excess, but also manage to create a close family-of-friends--and a nightlife/fashion scene that will gain worldwide infamy--in the process. There's eye-popping entertainment in these pages, but there's also emotional truth.

In short, "South Beach: The Novel" is a terrific read, one that you'll be surprised to find still living with you days after you've finished the last page. I can't recommend it highly enough.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Real South Beach Days, April 30, 2008

By 

LG (Miami Beach, Florida USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: South Beach: The Novel (Paperback)

Brian Antoni in "South Beach the Novel" provides the reader with an extraordinary tour of South Beach during a transitional redevelopment period, a time that attracted people from all walks of life. Mr. Antoni's very colorful characters depict this time perfectly with all their different agendas colliding and merging into what was the real South Beach.
A must read for anybody that has ever heard of South Beach.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HOT HOT HOT, April 27, 2008

By 

Martha Frankel (Boiceville NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: South Beach: The Novel (Paperback)

For those of us who have lived through Miami's myriad rebirths and deaths and re-rebirths, Antoni's SOUTH BEACH: THE NOVEL is like coming home and finding an old friend sitting in our most comfortable chair. Sexy, funny, and right on target, it grabs you from the first page and keeps you riveted.
Great fun and a wonderful trip down memory lane.
Martha Frankel Hats & Eyeglasses: A Family Love Affair with Gambling