Wendy Wasserstein, Elements of Style

Elements of Style

Wendy Wasserstein

Knopf, Apr 2006, $23.95

ISBN: 1400042313

Not long after 9/11 much of Manhattan remains in shock and horror from the mass destruction. Still, life goes on, especially for those wealthy Upper East Side residents. Pediatrician Francesca "Frankie" Weissman, Manhattan magazine numero uno doctor in the neighborhood, sees that firsthand as her affluent clients visit her wearing Manolo with infants out of a fashion magazine. Even the gas masks are designer label.

As she services the babies of wealthy blue-blood Samantha Acton, Californian Judy Tremont; and movie giant Barry Santorini, all share in common the belief that with money comes life; as if 9/11 is an aberration or even a fantasy. As Frankie dates the icons of wealth, she see one of these rich guys as her ticket to Manolo and with it the ability to ignore suicide bombers and ground zero and sacrificing on the war on terrorism by supporting the economy through hedonistic spending.

Renowned playwright Wendy Wasserstein recently passed away, but her final work, her first novel, is a fitting tribute as the book is a terrific look at the upper crust of New York just after 9/11. Except for the air pollution, life remains the same as wealth enables the support crust to hide from the ugliness or at least pretend that the world remains the same as it was before the towers came down. Frankie is an interesting protagonist who desperately wants the same lifestyle of her patients as she ignores the trappings of being a card (credit that is) carrying member of the affluent. It is sort of like living in Sodom and Gomorrah with Babel collapsing nearby as life goes on in the big city as long as you do it within the accepted ELEMENTS OF STYLE.

Harriet Klausner