Book Review | Dizzying Heights by Bruce Drucker

Dizzying Heights: The Aspen Novel – Buy this book [US]

Rating

3 stars – a few too many characters for my liking

Description

This satirical comedy takes place in Aspen, Colorado, second home to billionaires and corporate titans, as well as the ski bums and service staff who keep the town running. Waddy Brush, a young computer programmer, stumbles into a new life in Aspen, falling in with Mortimer Dooberry, a best-selling author/ psychologist who lives from scam to scam. Thus begins a story with many twists and unforgettable characters at every turn: a pink-Hummer-driving oil queen, a vacuous heir to a toilet maker’s fortune, a cocaine-sniffing rock star, and many more. At stake is the development of the last unspoiled valley in Aspen and a get-rich-quick scheme that pushes the limits of ethics in the Information Age. A clever and entertaining read, Dizzying Heights reaches the satisfying conclusion that good guys don’t have to finish last.

Why did you choose to read this book?

I was sent a review copy by the publishers.

The book review

This book opens with a cast list of no less than 27 characters, and at that point I admit I was a little nervous!

Set in the wealthy town of Aspen this novel follows two plots; a get-rich-scheme that will help people live out their wildest fantasy and the development of the last unspoiled valley in Aspen. Drucker then weaves in several sub plots as the characters mingle in what could be described as a comedy of errors.

Waddy Brush finds himself in Aspen completely by accident; a waitress in a roadside diner recommends a little Colorado town where he could live dirt cheap:

She had pointed to a little town on Colorado’s Western Slope, a town that remains lovely today, where one can find not a single shirt embroidered with a polo pony. But readers of insubstantial fiction know all too well the part that Chance plays in our lives. As Waddy rotated the map back to see where she pointed, her finger canted ever so slightly. Her red nail now pointed miles to the south and east, to a town he was sure he had heard of.

Once in Aspen he finds himself caught up in the get-rich-scheme while torn between lust for his ex-boss and the easy going waitress Annalee, who he assumes to be gay.

For me Waddy was the main character in this novel, and the most believable. The other characters were slightly more difficult to keep track of. As the viewpoint switches from character to character in a matter of pages I found myself often confused as to who was involved in which story line.

The author describes this book as satirical, and I would agree, though I think it may be better suited for a male audience – is there a male version of chick lit?

If you live in, or have ever visited Aspen then you will probably appreciate this book on a whole different level. If you’re a fan of satirical novels or Bruce Drucker then you may also enjoy this book – but for me, unfortunately, it just didn’t hit the spot.

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