Synopses & Reviews
and#8220;Michael Grossand#8217;s new bookand#8230;packs [in] almost as many stories as there are apartments in the building. The Jackie Collins of real estate likes to map expressions of power, money and egoand#8230; Even more crammed with billionaires and their exploits than 740 Parkand#8221; (Penelope Green, andlt;iandgt;The New York Timesandlt;/iandgt;).andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;With two concierge-staffed lobbies, a walnut-lined library, a lavish screening room, a private sixty-seat restaurant offering residents room service, a health club complete with a seventy-foot swimming pool, penthouses that cost almost $100 million, and a tenant roster thatand#8217;s a roll call of business page heroes and villains, Fifteen Central Park West is the most outrageously successful, insanely expensive, titanically tycoon-stuffed real estate development of the twenty-first century.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;In this and#8220;stunningand#8221; (CNN) and and#8220;deliciously detailedand#8221; (andlt;Iandgt;Booklistandlt;/Iandgt;, starred review) andlt;Iandgt;New York Times andlt;/Iandgt;bestseller, journalist Michael Gross turns his gimlet eye on the new-money wonderland thatand#8217;s sprung up on the southwest rim of Central Park. Mixing an absorbing business epic with hilarious social comedy, Gross and#8220;takes another gossip-laden bite out of the upper crustand#8221; (Sam Roberts, andlt;Iandgt;The New York Times)andlt;/Iandgt;, whichandlt;Iandgt; andlt;/Iandgt;includes Denzel Washington, Sting, Norman Lear, top executives, and Russian and Chinese oligarchs, to name a few. And he recounts the legendary buildingand#8217;s inspired genesis, costly construction, and the flashy international lifestyle it has brought to a once benighted and socially dand#233;classand#233; Manhattan neighborhood.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;More than just an apartment building, 15CPW represents a massive paradigm shift in the lifestyle of New Yorkand#8217;s rich and famousand#8212;and is a bellwether of the cityand#8217;s changing social and financial landscape.andlt;Iandgt;andlt;/Iandgt;
Review
"andlt;iandgt;House of Outrageous Fortuneandlt;/iandgt; pulls back the limestone curtain of 15 Central Park West to reveal seismic shifts in New York society and the astonishing lifestyle-without-limits of the new global elite. It's a dishy--but not trashy--page-turner."
Review
"Michael Gross has done it again! In intricate and revelatory detail, he shows how Fifteen Central Park West became the most famous and talked-about building in Manhattan: It's the people who live there, of course, and Gross gives us a front-row seat on their passions, their antics and why they want the very best money can buy."
Review
"Both an incisive social commentary on our modern Gilded Age and an irresistible peek behind the walls of 15 Central Park West, otherwise known as "Limestone Jesus." With characteristic audacity and wit, Michael Gross has deftly chronicled the immense egos (and bank accounts) of the nouveau riche who reside at Manhattan's most coveted address."
Review
"Want to understand what Occupy Wall Street was about? In andlt;iandgt;House of Outrageous Fortuneandlt;/iandgt;, Michael Gross explains it--and then some. With a rollicking, informative history of New York City, tales of mega real estate fortunes made and lost, and dizzying examples of the super-wealthy's greed and ostentation, Gross deftly traces the arc of America both socially and financially and proves that the top two percent most certainly do not live like you or I."
Review
"Michael Gross captures the phenomenon that is 15 Central Park West, where creative talent, towering ambition and unimaginable wealth instill a magical aura of glamour and romance not seen in a Gotham apartment house since the Gatsby era."
Review
andlt;Bandgt; andlt;/Bandgt;and#8220;Michael Gross's HOUSE OF OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE is a book about a building the way MOBY DICK is a book about a fish. History, real-estate wheeling and dealing, the economics of the buccaneer class, the arcane realpolitik of condos and co-ops, even floor-plans: it's all here. If you want to find out why Manhattan's skyline looks the way it currently does, this is the book to read.and#8221;
Review
"A deliciously detailed and completely engaging look at how the 0.1 percent live in one building."
Review
and#8220;Michael Grossand#8230;rules the school of literature you might call Books about Buildings Where Lots of Rich People Liveand#8221;
Review
"As much fun as any thriller or fiction."
Review
"Demonstrates conclusively the abiding truth of Clare Boothe Luceand#8217;s observation, and#8220;Money canand#8217;t buy happiness, but it can make you awfully comfortable while youand#8217;re being miserable."
Review
"Michael Gross, an author with a delicate appreciation for bloated egos and wealth, makes them glitter in 'House of Outrageous Fortune: Fifteen Central Park West, the World's Most Powerful Address.' The intersecting strands of money, politics, greed, taste, ambition shine brightly."
About the Author
Michael Gross is the author of andlt;i andgt;Unreal Estate, Roguesand#8217; Galleryandlt;/iandgt;, andlt;i andgt;740 Parkandlt;/iandgt;, andandlt;i andgt; Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Womenandlt;/iandgt;. A contributing editor of andlt;i andgt;Travel + Leisureandlt;/iandgt;, he created the blog andlt;i andgt;Gripepad andlt;/iandgt;and has written for andlt;i andgt;Vanity Fairandlt;/iandgt;, andlt;i andgt;Esquireandlt;/iandgt;, andlt;i andgt;GQandlt;/iandgt;, andlt;i andgt;New Yorkandlt;/iandgt;, andlt;i andgt;The New York Times, Theandlt;/iandgt; andlt;i andgt;Daily Beast/Newsweekandlt;/iandgt;, andlt;i andgt;Huffington Post,andlt;/iandgt; and other publications.