Gridlock (novel) Gridlock (novel) Gridlock is a 1991 novel by Ben Elton. The novel depicts a near-future London in which traffic congestion has reached almost critical levels, such that accidents in a few key places could bring the entire city's traffic network to a halt. The government is aware of the problem and plans a major new road-building program to relieve the pressure. The alternative, heavy investment in public mass transport systems such as railways, is ignored because it clashes with the government's ideology. The author argues that this is a highly misguided policy since, in his view, more roads have historically
The Man Who Lived at the Ritz The Man Who Lived at the Ritz The Man Who Lived at the Ritz is a 1982 novel by A. E. Hotchner. It is the story of American painter Philip Weber, who lives at the Hôtel Ritz Paris during the German Occupation, and his friendships with notables such as Hermann Göring and Coco Chanel. The novel was adapted into a 1988 television miniseries starring Perry King. Anatole Broyard wrote for "The New York Times", "Toward the end ... the book turns into a thriller as well as a legitimate novel and a quasi-documentary portrait of Paris. Yet there's something about