Social Disease

by Paul Rudnick

Guy Huber, his wife Venice, and their spangled, be-furred, leather-swathed, neon-haired, sexually-ambiguous, nocturnal friends take to the downtown Manhattan club scene, lofts, boutiques, to a courtroom, and to a prison until Hollywood makes their escapades just a comedy

Genres: Fiction, Humor, LGBT, Queer

195 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rudnick is hilarious. I wish he were publishing more novels, although I think scripts are a good choice for a man with such amusing dialogue.

***

23 February 2023


I don't know when I wrote that, and GoodReads won't tell me any more. Quelle sigh. Probably not earlier than 2008 so, 20 years after first reading it? And 15 years farther along, it holds up.

I'll Take It holds top honors: probably it always will: it's got so much heart. Honestly there was a possibility that as a novel of 80s club culture in Manhattan this would possibly not age well. Having all those scripts recent in my mind, I see elements, motifs and themes and such that appear differently elsewhere. Nothing as annoying as John Irving, nothing so heavy-handed, just families and aspects of characters. The sort of familiarity you can expect when reviewing a large body of work.

The important thing though, to me, is the the kindness. I didn't remember that this one also had genuine affection for his characters.

I hadn't planned to reread the other novels as part of this shallow and nostalgic dive, but Rudnick convinced me. Weirdly, he brings out a Jewish mother thing in me, despite him being older than me, and my Southern WASPish upbringing. To put this into context: much as I may have yearned to be Venice, I was Debbie. And I don't feel embarrassed by that. He's a good boy.

Personal copy, and I am loving these vintage dustjackets!

[Kostas Kanellopoulos · Rating 3 out of 5]

if Stefon from SNL wrote a book about NY hottest clubs in the 80's

[Elliott Aranovitch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was this book good? No. Will I be reading more of Paul Rudnick's work in the future? Absolutely.
I found the satire to be overdone in book form. However as Rudnick's primary format is plays I am looking forward to seeing how his unique sense of humor works in a different medium. Overall, has some interesting commentary, I am not mad that I read it.

[Martin Turnbull · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather disappointingly pedestrian novel about vacuous club kids in NYC in the 80s. Disappointing because it was written by the same guy who wrote “Jeffrey”, one of the funniest plays I’ve ever seen.

[Vivencio · Rating 4 out of 5]

being a laugh out loud account of misadventures in ny nightlife; too lesbian for words :D

[Charlaralotte · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought, "It's Paul Rudnick. How can I go wrong?"

Yeah, well.

Tedious couple living tedious life of wealthy clubbers in NYC. Some funny bits, but ultimately left with nada.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rudnick’s first novel, a rather too long foray into the mindless exploits of a trio of Studio 55 New York style vapids. The promise of Rudnick’s growing capacity for whip smart humor and great comic dialogue is there. Some very funny lines but not very interesting characters.

[Scott Vandrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A witty, social satire which wraps itself into overly complicated world circles with the goal to dazzle and amuse. Rudnick is a keen on wordplay and clever banter leaving the novel’s impact trailing sadly behind.

[Tracey Meisner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book when I read it, which was a very long time ago, in a very different place.

[Melissa Mae Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed! Wow, great book!

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you want to read a book that provides some examples of comedy writing, this might work. It's one-liner after one-liner after one-liner. However, after a while, I just grew tired of the over-the-top, rather mindless set-up of the jokes and the ludricrous satire. That's when the book became geuinely irritating. To complicate matters, there is only the faintest of plots. This book just became a silly, tedious mess. Read Wodehouse, Sedaris, Vowell, Waugh, or even Robert Rodi for much more thorough and better writing that is much more entertaining. I like Rudnick's stuff for the theater so much better.

[Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you ever thought someone should send-up the late-80s club scene in NYC- heck, for that matter, the 90s club scene there, too, I'm told it was about the same damned thing- then this book is for you.
Funny, sassy, and recognizably by the screenwriter who wrote 'Jeffrey', 'In & Out', and 'Addams' Family Values'- that same sassy and crisp sense of humor.

[RaphaelaLu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very strange.... If you've ever lived in NJ or NYC it is a LITTLE weird!

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

The king - or queen - of great one liners.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, I read this a long, long time ago. I do remember a lot of great and "crunchable" comedy from this book. I must do a re-read soon.

[Gregory Knapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comic masterpiece for The Ages.

One of the funniest books about New York, ever.

It's Beyond.

[Ellie]

Ouch