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Show ttT) KaFkl UT FA I O Ni scripts, and the sense nl right and wrong he dex eloped during the I Mb. he has wriiien an epic analysis nl Ihe past decade (Ihe Bill Clinton years, lor those of you who haxe been out ol ihe universe) that is cxery bit as perxerse as n is brilliant. Writing in the tradition of Norman Mailer and loin Wolte. who sometimes blend (act with fiction and personal observation. I.sierhas has pixen us a look al the decade we thought we knew. but didn't, if the truth be told To his credit, he lets us know, by the use til bold typeface, whenexer he delxes into fiction and that is almost always to pixe xoice to the "Twisted Little Man" who dwells deep inside his writer's psyche. I.sterhax's irreverent take on the Clinton Monk a scandal is shaking. mind numbing and filled with explicit details thal will nuke you squirm, as will his psychosexual explanation ol Clinton's behax lor while in office. No tine head-buslin- AMERICAN RHAPSODY Joe Esiterhas By JUfrvd A. Kaopf, S25.95 ISSN 0375411445 L RCVIEW BY JAMES DICKERSON lirst lame axtoss Joe I slcrhas in V?(K v. hen I he Hi ilumuie Sun Ihc f.n l asked me In rex icw his debut book. ( Inn In Simpson i .. illspsf It Was J sKllhiiulmg hook anti I (Mte il .1 ten ilk rex icw Shnrtlx alier lti.it I sleih.is dropped oil ihc Inei.nx l.niiKt..ik icxirpl loi a Kmk ah. ml ilk- - keni Siaie killings anJ a n. 'x el an.) sur I jt etl in H.'llx wood when- he began a tareei as a v reeiixx met In III xears snue. he I I . i lus mien original v ieenplaxs (anJ 7 xx d,k-tote- countless olhcrsi. hl.kkhusii-- hiding ihe mx psx.holoeual thnllcr Hasn r liinih t. which m.kle a. lfess Shaion Mone an overnight siai Jvisl when I had of importance Eszterhas has written pnen up hoe tl exei serine another Ks4 Iioin t slwmld he sx-tu- i w an epic analysis of the past decade that is every bit as perverse as it is brilliant hx I his link- - on a 4 III page h.s4 I. diihi.Hi' imaik ul reward when lie x.in easilx kolix-.- t a nulli.m dollars plus i.if a i paee mo ic alone x oiik-j 41' paee Ukmsier ol a tvs4. titled American I vrit'i s Rhapsody II is the won I keep x.ki in suspx-nsfvst tvs 4 I haxe read in Id ye.rs nun he exen I. meet I sine the research skills he x Icaoied as a wnter t,9 fi . the ear t9 J.jlogur a'kl d'a maeau-inem.itk si'Usiutr lie learned writing nkx ic e I last Pa EaNaSi S THE DARK HOUSE By John Sedgwick tUrpi BO . $25 008195404 RTVHA BY WES BREAZEALE ,'xj'J I Iv i. ne w . .s he !. ,i j x. j i 111. in b'10 .logj-- s m 'it k j( jn Jsjkt end xA j'kS he j Is'xe bgVr Nif be J j jw ot 57 - Xx o Sv'x.; ' iA Ro. ssi.sxt , ete C Si"x' xi.vx j I from the past decade escapes scrutiny, and that includes James Carxille. Hillary Clinton. Lurry fix nt. arid Sharon Stone, to name a few Richard Nixon ex en nukes a cameo appearance. along with his "Monica " Ameru a has been likky in that each decade has produced a wnter who has been able to put his finger tn the njtin's pulse This time it is Jik L sterhas .'w s- - jv no iwxc j w"c-- r tie 9 ie car mirth out ot B.M.in. it prevreds a a normal pursuit Ixvr Rolans However. follow mg a number ot quuk. uns.gnaled turns the Audi pulls a rrsiA'ima! m o'!! o! an akt unassuming h.uxc TV ne.xbs'kt px-- ha' He ,vit L Puifrsiiri is ihe au'not o nume'ous ibssU in. lud.ng Com' BaA to Memphis jnj That's Alright. Llxis Ki'h rtirr.-'- i re issued in pape'hoi i J jmes tV xk9. it. s' px ("vide Ro mx ed x J qukk'y head' r uo- - "C's ed " V d X x a to aid i brtle cd Vi w NOT A DAY GOES BY By L Lynn Harris Doubteday, $19.95 JSBN038S498241 $25.95, ISBN 0553502530 m With his new noxel. L. Lynn Hams tries to add something fresh to his usual lortnula of lies, double-dealinbetraxal. and bisexuality His fans needn't worry, for he does not forsake the trademark storytelling approach that has earned him a large readership status. The difference and in this b.Hk comes not from some but in major change in plot or locale, his witty, olten hilarious exploration ol the femme latale. best-sellin- darkey Harrington Braxton, w ho like the male lead. John "Basil" Henderson, is well know n to readers ol Harris's previous work At a particularly troubling crossroads m his life. Basil meets Yancey and behexes her loxe will chase away the demons of his bisexual past, aborted football career, and painful child-h.kk- i session confessions to extort some much needed cash from her hubby-to-hshortly after their wedding. It's a diaboli- is ex cry halt-truth- pervin is a younger named Ma.'j Sb is eager to learn more aid avtne'y pumps Rollins 1,9 further details And that's when the troubles begin The Dari House is i tense and debut n,xcl from authin J 'bn Nedgwkk He has crated a eomplcx anJ mg hc'o in Idwjr, R dims and a spunky, i U.Sx flexhed immediately involves herself in some of the most outlandish stunts, whether it's passing a bogus check to a community center for HIV and drug addicted babies, party crashing in a scandalous low-cdress, or a wacky shouting match with her befuddled agent oxer an imagined opportunity to land one of the coveted female leads in Ihc HBO hit show. Set and the City By Ivxok's end. ex cry score is settled, every question answered, hut not without a great deal of any mayhem, soul searching, and theatrical standoffs. Hams shows more emotional depth and versatility in this book than any of his cither works, giving his readers a rkh comic parable full of laughter and insights RoVrr Fleming ts a journalist in Sen )oti and they dc not disappctnL Sedgw n.k has a way w ith words as well. He has created a mystery, which does not immediately surrender its secrets While readers may begin to intuit itic direction the mystery is (leading. Sedgw k k is able to thiow them off the trail with unexplained twists Laxh time the pl4 appears to he sorting itscll out another surprise is added, keeping his reader in suspense until the very end. multi-layere- d Hrrii'fide is a freeluni e writer in the Pji iUt Norfrwetf Jhefihl that In xi-- up m an unassuming house no'-rlit Hi 'si. m is punrh c oini idem e Mi In-m- e x Hi alls Raad ruiwt wiM f wwoAookacwxwM IV c cally wteked case of get the loot and run." Whenever Y ancey appears on the page, she thing he's exer wanted in a woman beautiful, accomplished, and ambitious Now working as a promising sports agent. BjsiI thinks marrying Yancey, a Broadway actress and Holly wood hopeful, w.xjld be the pcrlect complement to ho successful life and the most cflectixe antidote to remedy his sometimes fexerish need to seek out male companionship Confronting his sexual ambiguity with his therapist. Basil tads to consider the J.fference in the couple's view of loxe and family until it's a!m.st t.ki late He wants kids but she d.es n.t And that's only one of sexeral key sticking points preventing total harmony between the pair as Yancey ruthlessly chases film and TV roles with a scorched earth campaign of deception, and dogged persistence somewhat over-the-to- full-spee- d REVIEW BY ROBERT FLEMING Yancey Her verbal slugfests sprinkled throughout the book are utterly campy, and almost classic in their bitchiness. I sing his cagey instincts as a storyteller. Hams succeeds in keeping the central story of the mismatched couple by adding the compligoing cations of their past loves into their rapidly unraveling romance. He delivers his riotous cautionary tale in his customary short, punchy chanters. If there is a drawback here, it is that Basil seems so good a guy that he's almost saintly, and the reader can't help but pull for his conniv ing fianc to get hers before the marriage vows are exchanged. On the other hand. Yancey provides the most sinister surprises when she schemes to win hack her first loxe. Derrick Way ne Lew is. her sweetheart from her college days, while planning to use stolen |