Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “People Like Us” as Want to Read:
People Like Us
by
The way journalist Gus Bailey tells it, old money is always preferred, but occasionally new money sneaks in--even where it is most unwelcome. After moving from Cincinnati, Elias and Ruby Renthal strike it even richer in New York, turning their millions into billions. It would be impolite for high society to refuse them now. Not to mention disadvantageous. As long as the
...more
Get A Copy
Hardcover, 0 pages
Published
July 24th 1991
by Random House Value Publishing
(first published May 28th 1988)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
People Like Us,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about People Like Us
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30
Start your review of People Like Us
I recommend everything by Dominick Dunne. "People Like Us" is just so much fun. Read "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles" and "A Season in Purgatory." His true crime books are amazing and his knowledge is based on personal experience and interaction with the rich and famous and dangerous. He was a victim of crime when his daughter was murdered by her boyfriend. Years of writing a column for "Vanity Fair" magazine enchanced his art, giving him a true insider's view. "A Season in Purgatory" is loosely based
...more
4.5 but since I have a fond spot in my heart for him he gets a full 5...
Dominick Dunne is Augustus is the story. His daughter, Dominique (the Poltergeist), was choked to death for 5 minutes by her jealous, psycho boyfriend in real life and also in the story. Lefty Flint gets 3 yrs for murder and great behavior. He plays out his fantasy to shoot him in the book. Gus is obsessed with revenge all the while dining with the uber rich New York crowd.
Elias and Ruby Renthal are the "new people" ...more
Dominick Dunne is Augustus is the story. His daughter, Dominique (the Poltergeist), was choked to death for 5 minutes by her jealous, psycho boyfriend in real life and also in the story. Lefty Flint gets 3 yrs for murder and great behavior. He plays out his fantasy to shoot him in the book. Gus is obsessed with revenge all the while dining with the uber rich New York crowd.
Elias and Ruby Renthal are the "new people" ...more
Added 5/1/15.
I picked this book up for free somewhere. I started reading but bailed out after a few pages. I had a hard time keeping all the characters straight. In fact there were so many characters introduced so early in the book that I gave up after the first few pages. As my husband says, there didn't seem to be any "connectivity". I guess he meant that he didn't see where it was all going... how one character connected to the next. Anyway, both of us gave up in the very beginning. I don't ...more
I picked this book up for free somewhere. I started reading but bailed out after a few pages. I had a hard time keeping all the characters straight. In fact there were so many characters introduced so early in the book that I gave up after the first few pages. As my husband says, there didn't seem to be any "connectivity". I guess he meant that he didn't see where it was all going... how one character connected to the next. Anyway, both of us gave up in the very beginning. I don't ...more
Jul 31, 2011
Brad VanAuken
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
sociology-social-science
This is pure entertainment. New money tries to break into New York society. Lots of very funny stereotypical characters interacting in entertaining ways. It revolves around the meteoric rise of a self-made billionaire and his maneuvering to become accepted by the very tight knit New York society to his rapid unraveling as his insider trading is revealed. This is the perfect summer read.
Sep 19, 2007
Neva
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Fancy Pants
Recommended to Neva by:
Me
I am fond of emphasizing the second word in the title. It sounds more pathetic. People LIKE Us! Or, even ask it: People Like Us? I'm sure one of these ways is just how Dominick Dunne intended the title to be said.
Maybe I should ask him.
Maybe I should ask him.
There are few books I would describe as beautifully trashy, but People Like Us definitely fits the bill. Written in the heyday of 1980s excess, and apparently based on a number of Important Society Folk, People Like Us is the perfect mixture of salaciousness, opulence, and just enough heart to keep the reader from total disgust.
For the reader like me, who has more and more trouble keeping track of a large list of characters, do try and stick it out past the first few chapters. Dunne throws a ...more
For the reader like me, who has more and more trouble keeping track of a large list of characters, do try and stick it out past the first few chapters. Dunne throws a ...more
Dominick Dunne is / was his own genre. Class warfare fiction? No one else comes to mind who captures the milieu of NYC's 'social x-rays' and with such great humor. As a bonus, he does actually know the difference between, say, Sevres and Meissen. Or, between Savonnerie and Savonarola. His insider bon mots are laughoutloud funny. Politicians, crooked investment gurus and bankers, they all appear, conjured in piquant detail and skewered where it hurts the most.
Another fun read by DD.
Dunne occupied a rare place in our world, the guy who knows everyone! As such, he was uniquely qualified to capture this small and fading world in the time period that he did. While the phenomena of those with new money ascending to dominance amongst the established monied set is a story that has happened repeatedly throughout history, the extravagances of the new money in the 80's were highly entertaining as well as appalling to the rather sedate society that had held sway for quite some time.
...more
It actually helps to read the fiction books in order. I remember starting with The Two Mrs. Grenvilles; I'm not sure why. Perhaps I just remembered that he died about a year before my daughter, and I'd come across the fact that his own daughter, the actress Dominique Dunne, was murdered in her 20s. Once I started them, I didn't stop. Characters will come in and out of following novels, and it was nice to recognize them. It was as if I was part of the community, albeit, not a very healthy one.
...more
...more
I hesitate to describe this as a beach read.. it's got some substance. This was a book club pick; I wouldn't have selected it on my own, but have to admit I enjoyed it. The characters are totally unrelatable (seeing as how I'm not a millionaire/billionaire), yet I found myself rooting for certain people and applauding certain successes and failures. Dominic Dunne knows how to tell a story, and his detailed descriptions help paint a clear picture. I quickly wanted to read to the end to see how
...more
I thought I would love reading about NYC high society... but had a hard time keeping all the characters straight and in the end just didn't care about their 'problems' (talk about dear conga...) it was entertaining but just OK.
Dominick Dunne wrote about high society and showed it to be just like the world of high school. Reading his books are a guilty pleasure especially while trying to figure out which society doyenne is which thinly veiled character. Trashy good fun.
Not a bad crime thriller; People Like Us is exciting, it's suspenseful and it has all the ingredients of a good book.
Trashy, sure, but sometimes you just need a little trash. I plowed right through it, so in fairness, I'm giving it 4 stars.
A strange book from start to end, but enjoyable nonetheless. The beginning was a lot to swallow, but a very fitting introduction- both to the characters and the book's pacing. There was a lot of pretentious language used throughout the book, but that's to be expected, considering the subject manner. The characters were funny and flawed and seemed fairly genuine, especially Gus and Ruby. There wasn't a character I didn't like, and few that I wouldn't have liked to know more about- though the book
...more
Old money vs. new money. A story that was old before Mrs. Astor's 400, the accepted society at Almacks, and the castes of India. It is a struggle that is always gossipy and intriguing and Dunne does not disappoint.
This book is a comedy of manners and ultimately a tragedy of morals, the story of the era of the eighties,when the rich went public. Somewhat different from the books I normally read. Old money vs new money.
I was a huge fan of Dominick Dunne's crime reporting in Vanity Fair magazine and also on his TV series ("Power, Privilege & Justice"). Always at the core of the murder trials he covered lay his profound grief for the murder of his own daughter, Dominique. Whether the topic of his articles was the Melendez brothers, O.J. Simpson, or Phil Spector, I for one was always aware of that rage he kept under the surface for Dominique's killer. I suppose most readers saw this too.
Except for "A Season ...more
Except for "A Season ...more
Stinging indictment of the “old money” of NYC in the ‘80s. Along with the rise and fall of fictitious self-made billionaire Elias and his wife Ruby, there is the autobiographical story (loosely) of Gus Bailey who is on the fringe of this entitled society while battling his feelings of revenge for the murder of his daughter. But don’t expect a murder mystery, this book is all about high society and teeth and claws that inhabit the salons there, ready to tear down any upstart unfortunate enough to
...more
It’s been a while since I gave up on a book, but this one failed to hold my interest. As far as I can tell, it’s about a bunch of uber-rich New Yorkers, all of whom live vacuous and self-absorbed lives. A plotline like that might have sufficed in the time of “Dynasty” and “Dallas” but in the era of the obscene greed of the 1%-ers, I couldn’t care less about any of these people, and there didn't seem to be much of a plot so I gave up at the 15% mark.
Fun read, well written
I love Dominick Dunne. This book was a great way to spend the weekend. I was in a crummy mood when I started the book. Getting into this high class, trashy novel took care of that! Just a great read--no message, no shoulds. A chance to read about the rich and famous acting like idiots.
I love Dominick Dunne. This book was a great way to spend the weekend. I was in a crummy mood when I started the book. Getting into this high class, trashy novel took care of that! Just a great read--no message, no shoulds. A chance to read about the rich and famous acting like idiots.
I enjoyed this book.i like that the names of characters pop up in most of Dominic Dunne's books. I have read several of his books but this one was not my favorite. The plot seemed loose and I didn't think that ending tied up the loose ends very well but I did enjoy it.
Good story of the change in social class on the Upper East side of NYC. Dunne must have though the plot too thin, and added a shooting, but I guess that is what classifies it as fiction. Issues of social class are what make this book interesting.
I forgot that I read this as a teenager. Completed the re-read because I forgot what happened to certain characters, and *had* to find out. High society New York in the 1980s was so ick. Must cleanse palate now.
Loved it! This is Dominick Dunne at his finest. I really enjoyed the characters and the stories throughout. It was a fun read.
great one liners, can't believe i never read this NY city story or Dominick Dunne
Nice read
There's nothing I like better than reading a good book before going to sleep and this is a good one. Rich characters, good storyline.
There's nothing I like better than reading a good book before going to sleep and this is a good one. Rich characters, good storyline.
"People like us fed my appetite for shock and scandal with real class..."
Apr 14, 2018
Amanda (Tholke) Hollenkamp
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction
a slow start but such a vivid and interesting book.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Book about 'new money' trying to fit in with 'old money' in New York. Spoilers below. [s] | 5 | 32 | Dec 02, 2019 12:42AM |
Readers also enjoyed
Dominick Dunne was an American writer and investigative journalist whose subjects frequently hinged on the ways high society interacts with the judiciary system. He was a producer in Hollywood and is also known from his frequent appearances on television.
After his studies at Williams College and service in World War II, Dunne moved to New York, then to Hollywood, where he directed Playhouse 90 and ...more
After his studies at Williams College and service in World War II, Dunne moved to New York, then to Hollywood, where he directed Playhouse 90 and ...more
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“We've all got trashy friends, but we should choose our trashy friends with more care.”
—
9 likes
“What am I going to say to my mother tomorrow?” she asked. “Take this in your mouth while you’re thinking about it,” he answered, pushing her head down on him.”
—
4 likes
More quotes…
