Swagbelly: A Novel for Today's Gentleman [Mass Market Paperback]

David Levien (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 26, 2003

Can $100 million buy respect?

Elliot Grubman seems to have a life any other man would envy-unimaginable wealth, bachelor status, and his own magazine, Swagbelly ("the magazine for today's gentleman"), which provides him with the companionship of a never-ending succession of Amazonian models with blonde hair, big chests, and tremendous bone structure. Yet, happiness eludes him. His wife left him for her rock-climbing instructor; his thirteen-year-old son refuses to be Bar Mitzvahed and is converting to Catholicism; his girlfriend may or may not be of legal age and may or may not be pregnant; and worst of all, for the last several weeks, Eliot has been unable to "perform."

From acclaimed screenwriter and film director DJ Levien, Swagbelly is a wry, erotic, and hilariously satirical tale of a pornographer in search of a decent life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Screenwriter/director Levien's first novel, Wormwood, minedHollywood's film community for laughs, love and lampooning. In this sleek new satire, he trains his lens on Elliot Grubman, a fabulouslywealthy New York Jewish pornographer whose high-flying, brand-namelifestyle has begun to unravel. Grubman owns both Swagbelly a men'smagazine whose quality hovers well below Playboy but above the crudestskin fare and a thriving, cash-gushing sex-talk phone empire. Moneyaside, Grubman has a fistful of personal problems: he's unhappilydivorced; his 13-year-old son has decided to skip his bar mitzvah andconvert to Catholicism; his possibly underage girlfriend may bepregnant; and he's having serious performance problems in bed to saynothing of a bum ticker that threatens to send him into infarction atany stressful moment. But Elliot soldiers on, attempting to win backthe hearts and minds of his son and his ex-wife by throwing bundles ofmoney at both of them, learning to play polo and attempting sex withthe many porn stars who model for his magazine. Elliot tries to enjoythe good life, complete with brand-new socks every morning,custom-made suits, a fleet of exotic automobiles and a leased jet, butsomehow all that plus $100 million and a legion of willing pneumaticwomen just isn't enough. Although desperate and often selfish, he's anengaging character and readers will root for him and wish himsuccess. But the sudden ending has a rushed, tacked-on feel, a majorplot thread is left hanging and the whole thing comes to a hopefulconclusion far too easily. It's fun, but a bit more work would havemade it better.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This gleefully foul-mouthed novel follows the shameless exploits of a men's magazine publisher named Elliot Grubman. The story opens with the newly divorced protagonist engaged in a fit of mournful boasting about his sex life. He has had 35 partners in the space of a year, but even Grubman realizes that he is attractive only because he is absurdly rich; all of his girlfriends also happen to be employees who pose naked for his magazine, Swagbelly. In short, Grubman is a fairly despicable human being, one who leaves notes for his cleaning lady because, "If there is one thing I detest, it is instructing maids in person." Levien, a successful screenwriter (Rounders) and director (Knockaround Guys), puts an intriguing spin on the idea of the antihero. The Larry Flynt-like Grubman is sleazy, to be sure, but he aspires to respectability, and it is this conflict between commerce and karma that gives the novel its spark. A clever morality tale, despite reading on occasion like an overheated letter to Penthouse. Kevin Canfield
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Plume (August 26, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452284546
• ISBN-13: 978-0452284548
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,221,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A surprisingly touching book..., October 2, 2003

By 

Gen of North Coast Gardening (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Swagbelly: A Novel for Today's Gentleman (Mass Market Paperback)

Ok, let me get this off my chest right away. This guy is sleazy! He dates a new model every night, treats women as though they are disposable, and tries to buy and intimidate everyone within reach. Even the waiters at his favorite restaurant dislike him, despite the hundred dollar tips.
However, for all of that, Levien manages to make him likeable. This poor guy is totally smitten with his ex-wife (now dating someone else), loves his son dearly but is driving him away, and can't even keep one of his model girlfriends happy enough to want to be with him. To top it off, this alpha male pornographer has become impotent.
While I wanted to hate him, I kept rooting for him throughout the book. I wanted this sleazeball pornographer to reach his son, get back with his ex-wife, and finally find a way of making his life meaningful again. Does he succeed? You'll have to read the book.
But Levien certainly succeeds in making a human and surprisingly likeable character. The book moves fast, and some of the scenes had me howling with laughter.
I would have given it five stars, but I was left wanting more at the end! Levien, if you are reading this, I want a sequel!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Swagbelly" Throws Its Weight Around, September 9, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Swagbelly: A Novel for Today's Gentleman (Mass Market Paperback)

A Swagbelly is a large overhanging belly. It's also the name of the adult magazine that the character Elliot Grubman owns in DJ Levien's book. "Swagbelly" has brought Elliot a bevy of beautiful women, the best clothes that money can buy, a private table at a chic restaurant and, of course, has made him very rich -- but it didn't buy him happiness, for at the same time, he's lost his wife and is losing touch with his son.

Much of the book takes you through his life after his divorce, as he tries to flaunt his money ($100 million!) and buy some class. He is a firm believer in the Golden Rule: "the one who has the gold, makes the rules." He demands respect from others, and wields his money as power like a sword, waving it around for all to fear. He takes pleasure in seeing others weaken before him, just to feed his hungry ego. He has a new girlfriend (is she 20 or 13?) and new enemies, and a new problem. He is finding that nothing arouses him any longer (no pun intended). As we learn more about what got him to this point, we start also to see where this is going: he needs to, as he always needed to, spend more time developing meaningful relationships.

The book, 231 pages, is organized by locale or situation, such as "New York", and briskly moves between now and connected memories. It is extremely explicit, in a distracting and unnecessary way; he could have easily had many other professions and the story would have been the same. Elliot suffers from anti-Semetic paranoia, which is heightened by his son's desire to convert to Catholicism. But, ultimately, the story focuses on his growth as a man (simultaneously as his son grows up), although, we are unsure that he really ever "gets it".

"Swagbelly" gets deep and profound, where you can both feel his angst and be repulsed by the fact that he truly believes that he can buy his way into and out of any situation. As he starts to realize that he craves a real connection and to expose his innermost feeling, he understands that he doesn't know how to build relationships. The reader is way ahead of Elliot in recalling the real Golden Rule: treat others how you'd like to be treated.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pleasant surprise, September 8, 2003

By 

dualienoted (Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Swagbelly: A Novel for Today's Gentleman (Mass Market Paperback)

I wasn't expecting much of this book, certainly not that it would be this smart, funny and literate. Levien's characters feel real as life, and his prose simultaneously elegant and prosaic. Eliot Grubman is as repellent a capitalist pig as ever had his soul laid bare in print, but you'll enjoy every page you spend with the schmuck.