The Misadventures of Oliver Booth: Life in the Lap of Luxury
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Manufacturer: Greenleaf Book Group
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781929774562
ISBN: 1929774567
Label: Greenleaf Book Group
Manufacturer: Greenleaf Book Group
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 224
Publication Date: 2008-10-01
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
Studio: Greenleaf Book Group
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Editorial Reviews:
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Oliver Booth wants nothing more than to join the ranks of Palm Beach's high society. But with his arrogant personality, garish wardrobe, and incompetent stewardship of an antique shop filled with gaudy reproductions, he doesn't have a chance. Oliver's luck takes a turnabout when the society doyenne Margaret Van Buren sends him and his assistant, Bernard, to Paris on a shopping spree to furnish her new estate. What ensues is a series of hilarious, Voltaire-esque misadventures as Oliver bumbles his way through the milieu of the elite. A satirical look at the lengths some people will go to in order to enter the insular circle of the privileged, David's Desmond's novel is a witty glimpse into a world few of us know. Praise for The Misadventures of Oliver Booth: 'David Desmond has written a hilarious tale based on his insider's knowledge of life in Palm Beach and Paris. It should be a big success.' --Donald Trump 'Can we talk? The Misadventures of Oliver Booth is filled with intimate details about the you-know-whos doing you-know-what in Palm Beach and Paris. You're going to love it! It's a fast and fun read.' --Joan Rivers
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Laugh Out Loud Book
Comment: The Misadventures of Oliver Booth: Life in the Lap of Luxury
Not too many books have made me laugh out loud like this one did. This is a very funny book that reminds us to be careful what we wish for. It seems that Oliver has always wanted to live among the rich and famous. In this novel he gets that and much more, only not the way he was expecting.
Many funny twists...can't wait to see what happens next in the upcoming novel, a must read.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: From S. Krishna's Books
Comment:
The Misadventures of Oliver Booth is a humorous look at a social-climbing man who thinks he deserves to have it all. Oliver Booth is quite repulsive (both physically and mentally) and he preys on the wealthy through his dismal antiques shop. He is definitely a caricature of a man, someone whose faults are grossly exaggerated in order to make the novel humorous. Of course, it is a successful technique, and the reader is left chuckling as Oliver makes one blunder after another. If he wasn't so odious, I might have felt sorry for him.
Despite the title, the story is more about Bernard, a waiter with an eye for antiques who ends up working in Oliver's shop. I really enjoyed reading about Bernard. I think if the novel had been solely about Oliver, the entire premise would have gotten old quickly. But Bernard adds a semblance of normalcy to the novel and is someone the reader can relate to. He keeps The Misadventures of Oliver Booth in balance between fiction and satire.
Desmond also should be commended for his writing style. His words are quick and sharp. His sense of humor is witty, without being too obvious. The novel is also a quick, light read. It ends before the mix of sarcasm and satire can get too grating; satires are only really funny if they know when to quit. This one definitely does, and is the better for it. It's a book you'll want to read in one sitting.
I would recommend The Misadventures of Oliver Booth to anyone who likes a good laugh. Though the novel is never absolutely hilarious, its wit and charm will keep readers enchanted. I'd definitely be interested in any subsequent books that Desmond releases.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Amusing debut novel
Comment: Oliver Booth is a pompous and portly antique dealer who is constantly endeavoring to ingratiate himself with the cosmetically-preserved ultra-rich of Palm Beach, thinking it good for business. But Booth inevitably fails, sometimes comically, both in his bids for societal approval and in business because his manner is irritating and he's a fraud: his shop is filled with Mexican knock-offs, and few prospective customers fall for the deceit. In David Desmond's debut novel--the first in what will apparently be a series--Oliver hires a certain Bernard Dauphin as his newest assistant. Bernard, unlike his employer, is both competent and scrupulously honest, and his qualities are recognized and rewarded, much to Oliver's dismay, by Palm Beach's dowager socialite, Margaret Van Buren. Desmond's novel follows the mismatched pair as they travel to France on Mrs. Van Buren's behalf to purchase antiques to furnish her guest house.
Desmond's book is mildly amusing, but never laugh-out-loud funny. The humor lies in Oliver's continued failures and Bernard's nearly unwitting successes and in the absurdity of the situations in which they find themselves. It reminded me a bit of Alexander McCall Smith's Professor Doctor Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld series, as both feature protagonists who are arrogant and unaware of how asocial their behavior is. But unlike von Igelfeld, Oliver, at least in this outing, lacks any mitigating charms or fragility that would render him sympathetic. Bernard is of course the more likable character, and one hopes that he will return in subsequent installments of the series to serve as counterpoint to the buffoonish Oliver.
-- Debra Hamel
Customer Rating:
Summary: Oliver Booth
Comment: To tell you the truth when I first picked up this book I was sure I was not going to like it. I found myself pleasantly surprised. "The Misadventures of Oliver Booth" presents a witty and sarcastic portrait of a desperate social climber.
Oliver Booth seems to be an amalgam of all the pesky, ambitious and abrasive social climbers and hangers on that Desmond surely has come into contact with. Oliver is obese, foul smelling, and petulant. He is not a character most people want to find themselves seated across from at dinner. He runs an antique shop filled with overpriced Mexican reproductions of Louis XIV. He hoodwinks a poor, sensible French waiter named Bernard into working at his antique shop. He demands first class treatment and throws a fit worthy of a petulant four year old girl in a toy shop. He is also one of the most engaging characters I have ever come across. I could not put this book down once I started reading. I was waiting to see what kind of situation Oliver got himself into next. He is not a character you will like. If you meet a person like Oliver, your faith in the general goodness of humanity will be greatly diminished.
Desmond's writing style is also one of this book. He is witty and sarcastic. His writing will draw you into this zany and wacky tale. You will get to the end of the book and not know how you got there. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a good laugh.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fun & Entertaining Romp
Comment: This book is highly entertaining. Oliver Booth is basically a "wannabe", for lack of a better term. His opinion of himself does not match that of others and it's a constant source of entertainment for the reader. The book takes us through numerous misadventures...most of which take place in Paris as he and his assistant Bernard, attempt to select antiques for a wealthy Palm Beach resident.
At 202 pages, this was a very quick read. My only criticism really is that as obnoxious as Oliver was, I wanted to read more about him! At one point the story began to focus more on Bernard, his assistant and I was anxious for it to get back to Oliver, which of course it did. Desmond did an excellent job of creating a character that you can laugh at, yet not dislike so horribly that you cannot stand to read about him.
Overall it was light and fun and there were several moments that I found quite humorous.
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