You knew it had to happen eventually, I broke down and read a nonfiction book. Seriously, I do read nonfiction, however not always for pleasure and often I jump around and only read the parts I'm interested in. For example I read bits of The Origins of the Franco-American Colony in Woonsocket, RI which I picked up the same day as Gilded, it was very good and interesting... that is the parts I read. I skimmed a lot and read about a third of the book in detail. The question is, does that count? In my eyes not really, which is why it doesn't go on the list or get featured on the Headcase Bookcase. That and I find many nonfiction books are so narrow in their focus that they lack general appeal. That being said I don't think Gilded is one of those nonfiction books. I'm a native Rhode Islander, I grew up surrounded by the legends of Newport and have read countless books concerning the seaside playground of the Victorian rich and famous. When I took a class in college on the history of Rhode Island, our professor actually skipped over Newport and the Gilded Age because she knew we had already been there and done that. That being said, I think that Deborah Davis' book is a well-rounded, smartly structured, all access guide. She looks at all aspects of the so-called Gilded Age, from the initial construction of the seaside "cottages" to the question of street development, to pre-Gilded Age Newport, and finally beyond the Vanderbuilts and the Rockafellers to the servants and townspeople.
I haven't read her other books, but I enjoyed Gilded enough to want to check them out. I think she takes a more lighthearted approach to nonfiction writing, and her brief chapters make it a nice book to dip in and out of. I confess I read it sporadically over several weeks. Also I don't think anyone can disagree that the story about the old society matron who declined a copy of Davis' book on the Black and White Ball on the grounds that Truman Capote "was a nasty, little homosexual" is equal parts shocking and hilarious.
