Madness Under the Royal Palms

By Laurence Leamer
Hyperion, $15.99, 368 pages

There is one thing you need to know about Palm Beach: it’s all about money.  It’s about how much a person is worth, how much the house cost, how much the widow inherited, and how much one donates to charity. In Madness Under the Royal Palms, the author, in spite of owning a home there, does not paint a pretty picture of the lifestyles of the uber rich on this exclusive island near Miami.  Residents appear superficial, racist, and lacking in basic human values.  Marriages are made not for love, but for business investments, and many are between sixty-plus men and their much younger trophy wives. Joining the right club is important. There are designated WASC clubs and designated Jewish clubs; as late as the early nineties, Jews weren’t allowed into certain ones. Interestingly, Donald Trump’s golf club, Mar–a-Lago, was the first to admit anyone, as long as they could afford the $310,000 membership. How often a couple’s photo appears in the Palm Beach Daily News (“Shiny Sheet”) can make or break one’s reputation. Donald Trump, Bernie Madoff, and John Lennon are the only recognizable names among the many people profiled. Some of the more interesting include Fred and Rose Keller of the celebrated murder case and poseur Sonny Peixoto.  Though there’s little to admire about the inhabitants of Palm Beach, the book is nevertheless fascinating.  Readers will feel like they are a fly on the wall, and a wealthy wall at that.

Reviewed by Leslie Wolfson