Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Social Crimes, by Jane Stanton Hitchcock

When a book is generally well received, and I hate it completely, unrelievedly, whole heartedly, perhaps it's time to look inward. The reviewers who found it funny and witty must truly hate the rich, especially members of New York society. Or have the key to this roman a clef? The protagonist of the book is a fallen society matron, who is naive, financially stupid, self-important, obsessive. She routinely humiliates herself, stumbles into traps, behaves foolishly, and only shows any ability to plan and think ahead when she turns her talents to murder. She evokes no sympathy. The book's villian is younger, smarter, more ruthless, and generally more entertaining than her opponent. The other characters in the book seem to exist to treat each other badly. Interestingly, no one in the book has children or character. The plot would have to try hard to be less plausible.

It seems that I read something by Hitchcock and enjoyed it. Unimaginable.

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