Reviews

Taki, born in Greece in 1937, jet-setter and columnist for the British Spectator , traveled in the fast lane until 1984, when he was arrested in London with an $1800 stash of cocaine. A sentence of three months interrupted what he calls his ``life of relentless privilege,'' recreated in this memoir. The book mixes gallows humor and descriptions of fellow inmates with tales of his escapades, friends and foes. Rating himself above competing gossip columnists who toady to the famous, Taki skewers celebrities who displease him: Princess Margaret, Phil Donahue, Nancy Reagan et al.; to him, Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown is ``Iago'' and ``Uriah Heep.'' Yet he praises William F. Buckley and others who stood by while he was in disgrace, and practically eulogizes Richard Nixon. Taki's braggadocio casts some doubt on the sincerity of his mea culpa--even though he declares himself guilt-ridden and ashamed of his crime. But one can enjoy the story of his high and low life anyway. (June)

In 1984, Taki--Greek shipping fortune heir, jet setter, and journalist--was arrested at Heathrow Airport for possession of cocaine and sentenced to a three-month jail term in a notorious English prison. In what could easily be retitled ``Confessions of the Rich and Famous,'' he presents a diary mixing the horrors of incarceration with anecdotal reflections on his past and enough name-dropping and dirt-dishing for any fan of his ``High Life'' column in the London Spectator . Throughout, he even offers hints of remorse and repentance for a decadent lifestyle. Taki's chatty pacing is lively, his digressions are amusing, and the characters he describes are memorable, all amounting to an enjoyable, nontaxing read for a general audience.-- David Nudo, New York