Gotham Diaries

May 17, 2004
Lauren Thomas, Wharton graduate, size-four beauty and rising director on the Style Channel, wants to be admired as herself, not just as the wife of Ed Thomas, billionaire baron of New York African-American society. The authors know whereof they speak, being married, respectively, to filmmaker Spike Lee and former Knicks player and ESPN commentator Greg Anthony. If Stephen Carter was the Henry James of old black money with The Emperor of Ocean Park
, the Lee/Anthony team is the Edith Wharton of new black money. As Lauren rises in selfhood, her best friends tumble: Manny Marks, the gay realtor who grew up dirt-poor, and widow Tandy Brooks, who at age 51 is dethroned as the duchess of philanthropy because her despised husband left her in debt. Vicious, funny, juicy, with lots of antic real estate scenes, the story is driven by a plot in which Manny and Tandy collude to swindle Lauren and Ed. The dual authorship sometimes shows at the seams, with Tandy "cocoa-brown" on one page and "caramel" on another; dialogue drags, and brand names crowd the pages. But the insider authority carries the day. Agent, Suzanne Gluck at William Morris.
(July 7)

Forecast:
Blurbs from E. Lynn Harris and Henry Louis Gates Jr. demonstrate Lee and Anthony's range (and probably range of acquaintances). This should have a strong start out the gate, with plenty of media attention.

May 15, 2004
In this novel about the glitz and glamour of the black upper crust of Manhattan, wealth and status mean everything, and friendship is virtually worthless. Manny Marks is a poor boy from Alabama who has remade himself into the image of the Manhattan elite, complete with a buff, glamorous boyfriend. As a real-estate agent, it's Manny's business to feed into the snobbery that demands top dollar. To keep himself on an upward trajectory, Manny lends himself to unescorted ladies. He is "friend" and companion to the lovely and lonely young Lauren, a budding documentary maker who, though born into comfortable wealth, is insecure in her marriage to a billionaire businessman. Manny also lends his companionship to Tandy, charity doyenne, widowed a year, facing financial ruin, and desperate to hold onto her fading looks and her social status. Manny is looking to score a deal that will cinch his own fragile perch and is oh so vulnerable when Tandy offers him a part in a shady real-estate scheme. Lee, wife of filmmaker Spike Lee, and Anthony, wife of NBA player and sports commentator Greg Anthony, bring their intimate knowledge of the glittery New York scene to this delicious novel about ruthless social climbing and unscrupulous greed among black socialites.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)