The House That Ate the Hamptons: Lily Pond Lane (Hardcover)

by James Brady (Author) "There are few secrets anymore..." (more)
Key Phrases: bug pit, speed chess, construction gangs, Signor Piano, East Hampton, Buzzy Portofino (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The Hamptons, "where gossip ranks slightly behind cocktails and just ahead of lawn care," are populated with all sorts of people these days and James Brady takes advantage of the frictions among them to concoct a frothy, fun adventure in his third novel, The House That Ate the Hamptons. There are the old-guard Wasps; a sprinkling of celebrities, such as Martha Stewart; and noisier, new-money types like Puff Daddy, with his infamous pool parties. But the newest rich kid on the block is a mystery and he is building a monstrously large house that insults the good taste of his neighbors. Does it really belong to a Texas oil baron? Or is he a front for a more sinister third party, perhaps some Arabs?

The hero-narrator of this tale is Beecher Stowe, a magazine writer with a family home in the Hamptons, who assembles a ragtag band of highbrow neighbors to solve the mystery of the house under construction. Among his confederates are the devilishly beautiful Lady Alix, an ambitious Congressman, and recognizable copies of both real and made-up celebrities such as Salman Rushdie, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.--and the fictional hero of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, architect Howard Roark. Eventually the investigation turns up the real owner: a Kuwaiti prince whose business concerns not only the nervous Hamptonites but also the Federal government. Still, hell hath no fury like a Hamptonite whose aesthetic sensibilities have been scorned, and eventually Stowe and his friends carry the day.

Brady, like Stowe, is a magazine writer--with columns in Parade magazine and Advertising Age--and a part-time Hamptons resident. His third Hamptons novel, (following Gin Lane and Further Lane) gently mocks and soaks up the glitter of the place, and is just the thing for a summer evening with a sundowner. --Katherine Anderson

From Publishers Weekly
Now an old hand at ribbing the glitteratis antics, Brady (Gin Lane, Further Lane) has concocted another Hamptons-based roman clef based on in-crowd lifestyles. Inspired by the real-life media fallout from the recent construction of a monstrous Hamptons mansion, this novel chronicles the efforts of one Long Island community to protect its insular, rarefied lifestyle against the excesses of the nouveau riche with grandiose pretensions, and those who jump on the bandwagon of self-righteous risistance. Congressman Buzzy Portofino reads New York City Mayor Giuliani) decides to get tough on Hamptons sin, focusing on a Texas oil billionaire (possibly a phony cover for the true Arab investors) whos threatening to build the most obtrusively gargantuan private home in the U.S. The narrator, columnist Beecher Stowe, and his media savvy Tina Brownlike British consort, Her Ladyship Alix Dunraven, join forces with a panoply of neurotic characters whom Brady depicts without a shred of subtlety. Among them, theres the Sam Goldwyn/Woody Allen-ish movie director Sammy Glique and his 19-year-old Asian-American girlfriend, Dixie Ng, whose Southern accent is transliterated into annoying prose. Also joining the action are the late Ayn Rand, alive and well, partnered with her principled architect character-come-to-life Howard Roark; Kurt Vonnegut Jr., whose real-life Hamptons protest inspired this book; the ubiquitous George Plimpton with his tape recorder at the ready; and even Martha Stewart is available for a cameo when shes not writing, broadcasting, putting up preserves, filleting a salmon, fermenting grapes... or thatching a roof. These celebs and their rich and famous counterparts writhe through a convoluted, over-the-top plot that reads more like a gossip column than a novel.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 247 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (June 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312205589
• ISBN-13: 978-0312205584
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,954,176 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Silly but Fun, September 23, 2001

By	Ann Thomas "helat" (Potomac, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This is a silly story, but it's great escape reading. All the escape elements are there -- the life styles of the rich and famous, an improbable story line, and a pleasant ending. This is a great book to take to a vacation cottage -- and leave behind for the next occupant.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dull, dull, dull, August 4, 2000

By	dina_c "dina_c" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The House That Ate the Hamptons: A Novel of Lily Pond Lane (Beecher Stowe and Lady Alex Dunraven Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

I didn't have high expectations of this book when I bought it. I was stuck at O'Hare, my flight had been delayed, I was running out of things to read. All I was looking for was an entertaining piece of trash. Unfortunately, even these reduced expectations were dismally disappointed. This is a boring, sophmoric pile of dreck. One can't even call the characters two-dimensional. They seem to be composed of a name (usually famous) and a few tedious (and often stereotypical) personality quirks. After slogging through the first 193 pages (so I'm a glutton for punishment), I have yet to find any evidence of a plot. Brady's publishers should have rejected this one. Don't make the same mistake they did -- save your money.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A bit over the top, December 27, 2000

By	Mary G. Longorio "Texasbookgirl" (Eagle Mountain, UT) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The House That Ate the Hamptons: A Novel of Lily Pond Lane (Beecher Stowe and Lady Alex Dunraven Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

The House that Ate the Hamptons sparked memories of past housbuilding uproars in the tony Hamptons.....well chronicled in the newspapers' Style sections and the upscale magazines. James Brady once again mixes the famous and the veiled famous and the made up famous (how can you resist Howard Roark from The Fountainhead) mix with the real citizens of the Hamptons. Beecher Stowe VI returns and becomes embrioled in the mystery house being built by an unknown person. The house threatens to be everything the established members of all ranges of Hampton's society hate. And there are mysterious forces at work and an unexpected visit from the president. I have to be honest...I was put off by the opening "credits" listing everything from Beecher's clothing to Lady Alix's gold nipple ring. It seemed to smack of everything that established Hamptons residents find bad taste. Thiscould be an engaging story, but it gets bogged down in name dropping and side stories.