Putting on the Ritz

While writing songs for would-be singer Elsa Champion, cafe society fellow Philip Cavanaugh must spy on her and her boorish real-estate mogul husband in order to provide friend Gilbert Selwyn with dirt for his forthcoming expose

Playwright Keenan's amusing hardcover debut (second in a proposed series, after the Penguin paperback Blue Heaven ) incorporates all the elements of a classic screwball comedy. Philip Cavanaugh and Claire Simmons are hired to write songs for a Rainbow Room performance by would-be chanteuse Elsa Champion, wife of the exceedingly wealthy and detested Peter Champion, arch-competitor of the equally rich and unscrupulous Boyd Larkin. The two Manhattan magnates enlist Philip and his chum Gilbert Selwyn to spy and counterspy, in hopes of uncovering some useful dirt on each other. At the same time, both Gilbert and Philip vie for the affections of Tommy Parker, editor of Larkin's pet magazine Boulevardier , and become involved in a series of increasingly farcical situations that ultimately rival Lucy and Ethel at their best (or worst). Although the constantly arch tone palls a bit, Keenan's generally clever repartee and on-target sendups of the media, nouveau-riche society, show biz, magazine publishing and gossipmongers make for a fast and entertaining read.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In a knockabout sequel to Blue Heaven (1988), songwriter Philip Cavanaugh agrees to write a set of tunes for untalented would-be songbird Elsa Champion--as a cover for spying on her boorish super- rich husband Peter. Peter's latest step in his feud with rival billionaire Boyd Larkin, you see, has been to start Estime, a gossipy magazine whose circulation already tops that of Larkin's Boulevardier; meanwhile, Larkin, his scrumptious aide-de-camp Tommy Parker, and Philip's old pal Gilbert Selwyn (who's thoroughly smitten by Tommy) persuade Philip to sign on with Elsa in order to get the dirt on Peter's nefarious business practices so they can blackmail him out of the business. What Philip actually gets (after masquerades and double-crosses too numerous to count) is much better--an audio tape, hilariously procured, of Peter's S/M session with Elsa's sister Kitty Driscoll. But his hapless attempts to deliver it without delivering himself to Peter or his lawyers lands him in repeated jams only his songwriting partner, improbably straight, unkinky Claire Simmons, can get him out of--and she's not kindly disposed toward him after Elsa's debut in the Rainbow Room, somewhat dampened by her just having heard the tape, makes Claire a laughingstock (along with Elsa) and the codefendant (along with Philip) in a ten-million-dollar lawsuit. Still to come: Philip's long-awaited romance with Tommy, whom Larkin insinuates into the editorship of Estime (and who plans to ``elevate'' it into financial ruin) and a showdown between Kitty, Elsa, and assorted hangers-on on live TV. An ebullient, overplotted tour of New York's brutish high life that's zany, arch, and gay in every sense of the word. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

A segment of "sophisticated" New York society, with its ostentation and incessant craving for pleasure and publicity, provides Keenan ( Blue Heaven , Penguin, 1988) with abundant opportunity for the exercise of his caustic wit and power of observation. The story revolves around the efforts of songwriters Philip and Claire to compose lyrics and music for the talentless wife of an arrogant real estate magnate while spying on the couple for their friend Gilbert, who is working on an expose of the husband's questionable business dealings. Most chapters provide compact essays on stereotyped people and are animated by just the right amount of malice. The fact that many of the characters seem molded more from familiarity than fancy only serves to heighten their plausibility. The book moves briskly and should keep most readers amused.
- A.J. Anderson, GSLIS, Simmons Coll., Boston
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.