As our cousins over at Curbed NY are musing about the epic condos-versus-co-op debate (immortalized yesterday in Crain's by 740 Park author and journalist extraordinaire Michael Gross), we're currently schvitzing about the book Gross is due to release in November. Let's face it: the title itself—Unreal Estate: Money, Ambition, and the Lust for Land in Los Angeles—had us at hello, and according to the publisher's description sent in by a tipster, the 500-page marvel details the fascinating real estate wheelings and dealings of personalities such as Marilyn Monroe, Cher, the Reagans, Heidi Fleiss, Larry Flynt, and Sheikh Mohammed al-Fassi, along with cameos by Hugh Hefner, Elvis, Magic Johnson, and, of course, Aaron Spelling. Can someone spell A-list?
When reached by email, Gross tells Curbed that it's too soon to divulge anything too juicy; however, he does write in to say this:
"As with 740 Park, once I unearthed the ownership histories of the 16 houses I decided to focus on, I was boggled by what a different cast of characters I was dealing with than at 740, where almost everyone came from the same class, most from the same small group of professions, and it was only the odd spouse or significant other who brought some fun into the building. No co-op boards stand in the way of people buying the great estates of L.A., and there have been periods of time when you didn’t need a lot of money, either, only the appearance of it, which explains some of the more bizarre characters I’ll cover in the book. Suffice to say, there’s a lot more sex, drugs and rock and roll in this story, not to mention hip-hop, murder, and other crimes and misdemeanors and world-class dysfunction on a scale I never imagined when I set out to write the book. Also, lots of fascinating homeowners cooperated with me and sat for interviews. Among them were the late Tony Curtis (I suspect it’s one of if not the last interview he ever gave), George Hamilton, and Ron Burkle." Money, ambition, and lust (not to mention sex, drugs, and rock and roll) are all concepts we can stand behind, so look for a full interview with Gross once the book's marketing initiative officially kicks off later this year.
· Condos Have the Flash, But Co-ops Have the Class? [Curbed NY]
· Condos vs. co-ops: crass warfare [Crain's]
· Unreal Estate: Money, Ambition, and Lust for Land in Los Angeles [Amazon.com]