Philistines at the Hedgerow: Passion and Property in the Hamptons (Paperback)

by Steven Gaines (Author) "ONE FRIDAY NIGHT in December 1991, while dining at the home of Bruce Cotter, a retired East Hampton police lieutenant, real estate magnate Allan M..." (more)
Key Phrases: town planning board, design review board, civil rights lawsuit, East Hampton, New York, Allan Schneider (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The Hamptons, that famous string of beachside hamlets in New York State, are not just a quiet vacation spot for New England blue bloods like the duPonts and Vanderbilts. According to Steven Gaines, the author of a spate of "untold" and "true" biographies of such glitterati as Calvin Klein, they're also--surprise!--a sandbox of scandal.

And who exactly has been stirring things up? Gaines centers the book on an eccentric cast of characters in Hamptons history: semicloseted gay men of fabulous wealth and Ralph Lauren taste, half-cracked Mayflower descendants going to seed, and those "Philistines," the nouveau riche, blemishing the scenery with their terrible taste. "The establishment can hold off the newcomers for only so long," explains the author. "There are always more of Them than Us."

Heavily researched, the book is painstakingly detailed and unapologetically voyeuristic, full of "nine-ounce chilled Baccarat crystal stem glasses," "Chippendale sofas upholstered in Scalamandré silks," "Gucci loafers," and "fourteen-karat-gold wallpaper." It's a Champagne truffle: sinful, enticing, and pure froth at its center. --Maria Dolan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
Even those who have never heard of Long Island's home to the super-rich and the celebrated (Calvin and Kelly Klein, Steven Spielberg, Martha Stewart, Alec Baldwin and wife Kim Basinger, to name only a few) will find page-turning entertainment in this social history of the Hamptons. In 1635, Lion Gardiner made a pact with Wyandanch, the great sachem of the Montauk, to keep the marauding Connecticut Pequots from infiltrating Long Island, and he received a sack of five Pequot heads to seal the agreement. From that time forward, the Hamptons have hosted a m?lange of old society and new money, often an uneasy blending. At the turn of the century, wealthy artists Albert and Adele Herter built the legendary Mediterranean villa, "The Creeks"; a caretaker poled Adele about Georgica Pond to visit friends in a gondola bought from poet Robert Browning. When operating costs depleted their fortune and Adele, without a laundress, discovered that it took an hour to iron her nightgown, she decided to sleep in her bloomers. In 1990, billionaire Ronald Perlman purchased The Creeks for the bargain price of $12.5 million. In the booming 1980s, to own property in the Hamptons was the signal that one had arrived; it was said that "if you have to work on Fridays in the summer or be back in the office on Monday morning, you're not successful enough to live there." Gaines (Obsession, a biography of Calvin Klein) depicts a fabulous cast of real-life characters, both high and low. More fun than most fiction, this is a terrific summerAor anytimeAread. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 326 pages
• Publisher: Back Bay Books; 1st Back Bay Books Ed edition (May 6, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316309079
• ISBN-13: 978-0316309073
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #234,813 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TERRIFIC READ!, January 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Philistines at the Hedgerow: Passion and Property in the Hamptons (Hardcover)

I loved this book. The author has written a social history of the Hamptons that's a real page-turner. The characters are fascinating and he evokes a sense of place that makes you feel the author knows every nook and cranny of his subject. The book creates an historical tapestry stretching from pre-Revolutionary days to an end- of-the-millenium July 4th party. It would be easy to take potshots at the rich and richers who live in the Hamptons, but the author, who sees these characters with a clear and discerning eye, never condescends. The book moves so quickly I finished it in one sitting. This is my favorite kind of book-- a non-fiction book that reads like a novel. Because of the subject, some people might consider this a summer read, but I found this to be THE perfect book to read during a recent snowstorm. Enjoy!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Entertaining Look Inside, November 21, 2001

By	BeachReader (Delaware) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This was a most enjoyable book....a look at how the super-wealthy denizens of the Hamptons really live. The author tells many gossipy tales, but at the same time, gives the reader a great deal of historical background about the early settlers of the area; those who became wealthy via the real estate of the Hamptons; and the mega-wealthy newcomers who seem to delight in flaunting their wealth even as they try to remain anonymous...or perhaps the right word would be "mysterious".

I think Gaines, an insider who lives in the Hamptons, has done his research and perfectly relates the superficial life led by many of the residents there.

This book read like fiction and I finished it very quickly. Many of the characters who populated the book were very odd people, ones that a reader would expect to meet in a novel.

I found the story of Gardiner's Island fascinating. It was first settled by Lion Gardiner in 1639, and was the first permanent English settlement in New York. Lion bought this from the Indians and it has been owned by his descendents ever since. They allow no trespassing.

I also enjoyed the story of The Creeks, one of the largest estates in the Hamptons. It was created in incredible splendor by Arthur and Adele Herter and recently rebuilt by Ron Perelman. In the intervening years, The Creeks belonged to the artist Alfonso Ossorio and his lover Ted Dragon, an interesting couple. These men befriended Jackson Pollock and their story included interesting information about Pollock's life and tragic death.

This says it all: "The establishment can hold off the newcomers for only so long. There are always more of Them than Us". The "Them" he refers to are the Philistines at the hedgerow.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Really Good Driving Tour, July 13, 2000

By	Anne Lewis (South Dakota, USA) - See all my reviews

The best way for me to describe Philistines is as the really good driving tour of the Hamptons. You get history, you get gossip, you get social commentary, you get, in other words, a feel for the Hamptons and how they came to be The Hamptons.

The writing in Philistines (I'm a stickler for good writing) is breezy and smooth, perfect for summer or winter when you want to think about summer. My only quibble with the book is that the publisher could have included a map since I only have the vaguest of idea of where the Hamptons are on Long Island and how all the individual Hamptons fit together.