Each summer, the cluster of small towns on Eastern Long Island known as the Hamptons becomes one of America's most sought-after destinations. A compelling blend of contrasts, they hold a charming appeal for city dwellers looking to get away from the urban frenzy. Take a journey through the private realms of this exclusive playground.
“The Hamptons” is synonymous with luxury. Simply mentioning the name conjures images of poolside soirées, grandiose waterfront estates and endless days on the beach socializing with the upper echelon. But before this famed peninsula became the summer haunt of the glitterati, its forty miles of rolling sand dunes provided the perfect landscape for English settlers. Once New York high society caught wind of the charming hamlets and salty air, its members—from the Fords to the Vanderbilts—soon turned The Hamptons into a summer oasis. Next came the creatives seeking solitude, a place to write and sketch, away from the urban cacophony. John Steinbeck in Sag Harbor. Jackson Pollock in the Springs. And Andy Warhol in Montauk. Now, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Calvin Klein, Madonna, Alec Baldwin and Martha Stewart all enjoy Hamptons homes. They may come from different realms, but what’s one thing all Hamptonites, honorary or official, can agree on? The locale boasts a unique allure—one that morphs to meet the desires of its next seasonal guest or lifelong dweller.
Yes, Dan Rattiner is still in the Hamptons, and after fifty-plus years on the eastern end of Long Island, most of them as publisher of the region's free weekly newspaper, Dan's Papers, he still has a lot of stories to tell. Here, offered in his signature dry, observant, and self-deprecating wit, are Rattiner's further encounters with the billionaires and celebrities, the farmers and fishermen, the eccentric artists and ordinary folks, who together make the Hamptons one of the most fashionable, exclusive, and entertaining communities in the United States. As Tom Wolfe once noted, "If a guy says it happened in the Hamptons, and Dan Rattiner doesn't know about it, it didn't." The people he writes about are presented in chronological order from 1959 to today, just as Rattiner lived it and has remembered it. Still in the Hamptons will help you understand what the Hamptons used to be and what it has become, and will provide an entertaining read along the way. Praise for Dan Rattiner "If you pick up the East Hampton Star, you'll learn the who, what, and where. The why and how are more likely found in the pages of Dan's Papers ... If you want to understand the crazy quilt of art, sand, money, farmland, literature, golf clubs, divorces, sea spray, and the area's remarkable blend of ego, generosity, and dedication to historic preservation, read Dan's book, In the Hamptons, and its sequel, In the Hamptons Too." — Alec Baldwin, from the Foreword of In the Hamptons Too "Dan Rattiner has been chronicling the people and events of the Hamptons for as long as I've been going there (since the sixties). If anyone wanted some insight into what made this area such an interesting place, all they'd need was a copy of In the Hamptons. It's as close to rubbing elbows as you can get. Enjoy!" — Billy Joel "If there was an honorary mayor of the Hamptons it would have to be Dan Rattiner ... a raconteur with a wicked sense of humor and an eye for detail." — Long Island History Journal
In over 180 vivid color photos, this beautiful book provides a photographic exploration of the lifestyles and landscape of Long Island's famed East End. This collection, a work of art and a documentary, epitomizes the diversity and eclectic nature of this historic locale. The varied methods of capture â film or digital, time-lapse or infrared â produce imagery that evokes a sense of nostalgia and provides a greater understanding of the Hamptons as a whole. The hamlets and villages depicted include Amagansett, Bridgehampton, East Hampton, East Marion, Greenport, Montauk, Napeague, Noyack, The Quogues, Sag Harbor, Sagaponack, Shelter Island, Southampton, Springs, Water Mill, and Westhampton. The revered past and unique history of the Hamptons carries through to the present-day East End. Rich with art and culture, still picturesque and diverse, the Hamptons are ever changing and evolving. Looking ahead, this book will become a resource of historical record, as it chronicles the contemporary community in a beautiful and truthful way.
Long before the Hamptons became famous for its posh parties, paparazzi, and glitterati, it was a sleepy backwater of fishing villages and potato farms, literary luminaries and local eccentrics. As the editor and publisher of the area’s popular free newspaper, Dan’s Papers, Dan Rattiner, has been covering the daily triumphs, community intrigues, and larger-than-life personalities for nearly fifty years. A colorful insider’s account of life, love, scandal, and celebrity, In the Hamptons is an intimate portrait of a place and the people who formed and transformed it, from former residents like Andy Warhol and Willem de Kooning, colorful locals like bar owner Bobby Van and shark fisherman Frank Mundus (who the character Quinn from Jaws was based on), and literary figures like John Steinbeck and Truman Capote, to present-day stars like Bianca Jagger and Billy Joel. An insider who lived there—as well as a Jewish outsider amid the WASP contingent—Rattiner both revels in and is rattled by all he witnesses and records in one of the world’s most famous places. With dry wit and genuine affection, he shares a story of the Hamptons that few know, one defined by the artists, painters, fishermen, farmers, dreamers, hangers-on, celebrities, and billionaires who live and play there.
The Kingdom of the Kid is a memorable portrait of an indelible childhood on Long Island's South Fork from 1967 to 1972, when the Hamptons were still a middle-class paradise. In six short years, journalist Geoff Gehman was changed forever by a host of remarkable characters, including Carl Yastrzemski, his first baseball hero; Truman Capote, his first literary role model; race car champion Mark Donohue, who conquered a wicked track nicknamed "The Bridge"; Henry Austin "Austie" Clark Jr., fabled proprietor of a candy store of vintage vehicles; and Norman Jaffe, the notorious architect who designed a house seemingly built by masons from outer space. Gehman's childhood kingdom was ruled by his father, a boozing, schmoozing social bulldozer, who taught his son how to pitch, how to sing barbershop harmony, and how to mix with potato farmers and power brokers. Then, burdened by manic depression and bad investments, he abruptly ended his son's reign on the East End by selling the family house in Wainscott without his wife's permission. The Kingdom of the Kid is not just another baby-boomer coming-of-age memoir about baseball, beaches, drive-in movies, rock 'n' roll, fast cars, faster women, alcoholism, mental illness, divorce, suicide, and redemption. It's a pilgrimage to a special place at a special time that taught a kid how to be special. It's for anyone who has lived in the Hamptons or has wondered about living in the Hamptons, anyone who remembers the thrill of riding shotgun on the tailgate of a Ford LTD station wagon, anyone hungry for a juicy slice of Don McLean's "American Pie."
One house. Forty strangers. Add vodka and stir . . . Every summer, scores of Manhattan twentysomethings take part in an annual ritual with a camp-like culture distinctly its own: the Hamptons sharehouse. When Rachel and her two best friends buy their shares for twenty times each of their bank balances, they're imagining days filled with lazy suntanning and classy clambakes and nights spent rubbing shoulders with the Olsen twins and other celebrities. But once they arrive at 1088 Montauk Highway on Memorial Day weekend, they find that the reality falls a bit short. What looks like any other million-dollar mansion--on the outside--plays host to drunken escapades, explicit nudity, hot tub hookups, hideous hangovers, and juvenile mischief on the inside. As housemates jockey for limited bathroom time and beer pong mania takes over the house, Rachel finds herself wondering if it's possible to find true love--or even just survive the summer--in The Hamptons.
Suppressed rage, fear, injustice, and passion-the silent screams associated with the Disease of The Family of Origin. Christa Ryan takes readers on a roller coaster ride, offering them many places to find their own identities. She sorts through her past, showing how one episode after another contributed to the chaos of her adult life. She recounts how she matured into better person rather than perpetuate the victim cycle. Her candid storytelling reflects how actions are so tragically linked to this Disease of The Family of Origin and how patterns of hurts, hang-ups, and habits are carried forward into the next generation. Christa was able to break this cycle through the powers of willingness, love and forgiveness. In this remarkable story, she encourages readers to face and overcome the silent screams of their everyday struggles.
Couture royalty meets downtown grit and heady artists mingle with freewheeling socialites in A Dangerous Age, a sophisticated, indulgent, and delicious novel of contemporary New York City, perfect for fans of The Real Housewives franchise and Sex and the City. It’s the dog days of a sweltering Manhattan summer, and four sophisticated best friends who once took New York by storm are secretly falling apart at the seams. Lucy’s marriage to a renowned artist is slowly crumbling, with an explosive secret that threatens them both. Sarah, in the middle of auditioning for an auspicious new television show, realizes that her socialite standing is in jeopardy after countless disastrous events. Billy—a queen in the kitchen—has finally left her former life behind to become a highbrow cuisine artist. And Lotta, a knockout downtown art dealer, spends her free time guzzling cocktails in both the grittiest and most expensive clubs around town—but now, she’s taken it a little too far. In this addicting and refreshing comedy of manners reminiscent of Edith Wharton, Lucy, Sarah, Billy, and Lotta go to all ends to hide their troubles in a city that worships only the young, twentysomething it-girl. But in the end, there’s no denying that these women have all entered a very dangerous age...and who knows how they’ll emerge on the other side in this dizzying novel of glitz, glamour, and soirees.