Jewelry Talks: A Novel Thesis

by Richard Klein

Campy, bitchy, outrageous, and quite a bit more than over the top, Abby Zinzo describes himself as “a cross between Auntie Mame and Louis the Sun King.” Abby has lived a life dedicated to pleasure, and nothing has given him more pleasure than owning, wearing, or merely contemplating the lustrous objects with which women and men have always adorned themselves.

In this sexy, funny book that is part novel and part thesis on jewelry, Abby sits down to record everything he has learned over a lifetime, planning to leave this story along with his collection of valuable stones to his beloved niece, Zeem. He recounts the history of famous gems–like the fabulous Koh-i-Noor and the brilliant blue Hope diamond–and regales us with naughty tales of the women who made the beautiful jewelry their own, including Coco Chanel, the Duchess of Windsor, and Elizabeth Taylor. He also narrates his own sensational life, from Harvard undergraduate to dancer in a notorious Paris drag cabaret to his twilight as a man for whom gender is just another glittering ornament. Sharp, fascinating, and sparkling with its own inner fire, Jewelry Talks is precious gem in and of itself.

Genres: Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Patrick Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a curious little book. Part philosophical discourse on the meaning and significance of jewelry, part camp history of some of the great 20th century jewelry lovers and part gender-bending romp through Paris, I wanted to like this more than I actually did. The disparate strands never quite came together cohesively, some of the historical anecdotes could have used a bit more research, and some of the camp bitchiness tipped a little too far towards bitchiness. However, I’ve never read anything else that attempts to synthesize Hegel, Liz Taylor, and the symbolism of a diamond while simultaneously smashing the gender binary, so hats off to the attempt.

[L]

p.83 one assertion caught my attention: "In the case of a woman wearing a vulgar diamond solitaire, she might as well be wearing a check around her finger, says Chanel, made out for the amount it costs." which seemed a counter intuitive attribution. I Googled "Chanel diamond solitaire" and mostly found links to diamond solitaire rings sold under the fashion label, rather than any other documentation of that quote, until the Google books link to the very page I was reading.

[Notcathy J · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cathy has written, "'The rain continues to fall in the Bronx.'--Joe Castiglione 9/2/02."