Another City, Not My Own

The only thing dopier than the cameo by Princess Diana (who, Cassandra-like, divines the ending of the trial, as if her royalty somehow gifted her with extrasensory perception) is the incredibly self-congratulatory ending. Save your money and read one of Dunne's other, and actually enjoyable romans a clef, such as A SEASON IN PURGATORY or THE TWO MRS. GRENVILLES.


DON'T GIVE AWAY THE ENDINGS PLEASE!!!!!   July 7, 1999
I thought this was a great book. I, too was very tired of the OJ farce but this book put a new spin on everything.Luckily I read a review that said someone gave away the ending and I stopped reading reviews!!!!I would think since most of us are readers we should know better than to give away the endings. The ending in this book is totaling worth reliving OJ!


"Fiction" without a point   June 14, 1999
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Dominick Dunne's "Another City, Not My Own" is an extraordinarily confusing novel. The protagonist is Gus Bailey, who is essentially Dunne himself. Dunne suggests that the renaming of the protagonist and the label of "novel" applied to the book are to protect against libel suits, though any legal protection these devices afford is at best dubious. The story, such as it is, is of Bailey/Dunne's coverage of the criminal trial of O.J. Simpson that so dominated the media. Well, that's part of the story. The rest involves Bailey/Dunne's visits with celebrities from Elizabeth Taylor to Nancy Reagan to Andrew Cunanan.

With so many books about the trial, the question of this book's worth is probably whether it adds anything new. In some respects, Dunne does contribute to our understanding of the case by sharing insights about the main players, from the defense team to the prosecution to some of the witnesses. Of course, we are told that the book is fiction, and that fact mitigates against the faith we can put in Dunne's tales. Some of the events are obviously fictitious, but some are patently real. Where the truth lies is something Dunne evidently would prefer to avoid disclosing.

One of the more curious aspects of "Another City, Not My Own" is that Bailey/Dunne repeatedly laments the people who would rather tell him what they know than tell officials. At the same time, Dunne himself is being exceedingly less than forthright in using the literary structure he does. We are told to believe in Simpson's factual guilt because of the hearsay Bailey/Dunne hears, but the result is merely one of preaching to those who have made up their minds one way or the other. In the end, one must wonder to what end this book was written, aside from the net effect on Mr. Dunne's bank statement. If the book is purely fiction, then one wonders why such a fictional account is necessary. If the book is mostly non-fiction, then why disclaim it as Dunne does? Finally, if the book is a mixture of fact and fiction (as it is), how are we to know what is what?


READ IT IN ONE SITTING!   June 6, 1999
Pure fun on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the murders! So clever of Dunne not to drag us through the well known facts of the case--he got right to the juicy (no pun intended) stuff. As enjoyable for the snapshot of his "society-lunching lifestyle" as anything. Great literature? No. A great entertainment? Yes!


Another Title, Not So Pretentious!   May 18, 1999
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

First of all, the title is ridiculous. Second, the fundamental problem with this book is that it's pretty much unwritable. If Dunne had written it as a straightforward account of the OJ trial, what could he really have said that hadn't already been written? However, he couldn't really write the book in its current form as non-fiction, either, because too much of it is gossip and rumor--it would've meant multiple trips to the courthouse as he shelled out millions of dollars in libel suits. So I respect the dilemma Dunne was in; I just wish he'd reprinted his essays from Vanity Fair as a collection instead. In its current form, the book is vapid, uninteresting, and basically a reprinting of Dunne's journal. And the end? Talk about a desperate way to link in the other hot topic of the year! Whatever!