General Fiction Reviews
Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
Viking, May 1998.Hardcover, 267 pages.
ISBN: 0670880728.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
Thirty-something British publishing employee
Bridget Jones has it all figured out. If she can
just lose 1 ½ inches from her thighs, develop
Inner Poise, learn to program her VCR and
stop dating psychos, her life will
be perfect. Boldly she makes her New Year's Resolutions,
only to begin rationalizing them away on New Year's Day.
As her life progresses over the year, we learn her daily
alcohol consumption, cigarette consumption, and calorie
consumption and other pertinent information to the
modern Singletons (who are not to be confused with
their antithesis: the Smug Marrieds). The diary follows
Bridget's misadventures in love, work, dieting and friendship
over the course of a year. Will she ever find love?
Will she ever figure out why it takes her 3 hours
to leave the flat before going to work in the morning?
British bestseller Bridget Jones's Diary is one of the funniest books to come along in ages. Originally penned by author Helen Fielding (who swears she's not really Bridget) for a weekly newspaper column, this is one diary you won't be able to put down. Luckily for readers there is a sequel in the works, so those who get addicted to a hilarious daily does of Bridget's daily ponderings won't suffer from withdrawal pangs for too long. Highly recommended.
--Claire E. White
Greetings from the Lincoln Bedroom by Arianna Huffington
Crown Books, April 1998.Hardcover, 240 pages.
ISBN: 0609602276.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
After making a token contribution to the Democratic National
Committee (DNC) in order to terminate endlessly persistent fundraising
solicitations from DNC Chairman Don White, Arianna Huffington is rewarded
with a weekend visit in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House.
Normally, such perks are reserved for contributors of $50,000 or more,
Hollywood dignatories, and foreign businessmen/donors, but Mrs. Huffington
is rewarded due to her insider status as a political commentator and
former wife of Michael Huffington, a former Republican Congressman and
failed Senatorial candidate. Mrs. Huffington takes the reader "through
the looking-glass" to gain a privileged view of the Clinton White
House in which money is paramount -- financial contributions will gain anyone,
even convicted drug dealers, access to the Oval Office; where everything is for
sale, from official policy to the bathrobes in the guest rooms; and where Al Gore
can be found in the basement making continual fundraising calls (putting the tab
on a DNC credit card, of course). President Clinton's cat, Socks, serves as a cynical
tour guide, having been replaced as official pet by opinion-poll-crazed Clinton, who
learned that a brown lab puppy would be more popular.
The Clinton White House is much like a fraternity house, with a gregarious President prowling the halls at all hours to befriend anyone who will provide gratuitous amounts of campaign cash, food, or sex, regardless of national origin, political persuasion, or age of consent. Staff members are nattering minions obsessed with the President's popularity, and those of the loyal opposition who seek to make deals with Clinton are callow and spineless, obsessed by the scorn in which the public beholds them. Hence, bipartisanship becomes a ferocious monster that consumes all who seek it.
Arianna Huffington's barbs are equally humorous and poisonous, replacing the once glib, now trite Art Buchwald as the wittiest political commentator. By far, this book is more funny that Rush Limaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot, and the best political satire since House of Cards and Thank You For Smoking. Robin Williams notwithstanding, this book proves that conservatives have a better sense of humor than liberals.
--Doug Jacobson
Misadventures in the (213) by Dennis Hensley
Weisbach Morrow, July 1998.Hardcover, 294 pages.
ISBN: 068485029X.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
Craig Clybourn is an aspiring screenwriter who has moved to
Tinseltown hoping to sell his screenplay, Deck Games.
While making the rounds, he is comforted by his
best friend from college, Dandy Rio, who now is starring
in her own sitcom, That's Just Dandy, and is known for
her media-grabbing hijinks, her childlike charm and
her somewhat murky moral values. And, of course, there
is the former Oscar winning landlady, the neurotic publicist
Miles and Craig's 32 year old neighbor, Claudia, whose goal is to
launch a one-woman show before she hits 40. As Craig
and Dandy maneuver through the Hollywood maze, they
learn about life, friendship and themselves.
Dennis Hensley, who is known for his "Misadventures in the (213)" column for Detour magazine under his pseudonym Craig Clayborne, has penned a hysterically funny novel which follows the trials and tribulations of Craig and his friends through the sometimes surreal world of Hollywood and its environs. Craig himself is a lovable soul who remains loyal to his friends, even while providing a hilarious running commentary on their failings and foibles. Although he occasionally lapses into Eyore-like depressions (which are usually too funny for words), like the proverbial rubber ball, he always bounces back to participate in one of Dandy's Lucy and Ethel type schemes -- which might involve anything from finding the men of their dreams to stealing the koi fish from Tina Louise's backyard -- which almost always backfire. With a rapier wit, a flair for pizazz and the ability to create complex, neurotic and yet totally endearing characters, Hensley is an author to watch. Highly recommended.
--Claire E. White
Return to the July 1998 issue of The IWJ.
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