Nothing to Declare: A Memoir

Taki, born in Greece in 1937, jet-setter and columnist for the British Spectator , traveled in the fast lane until 1984, when he was arrested in London with an $1800 stash of cocaine. A sentence of three months interrupted what he calls his ``life of relentless privilege,'' recreated in this memoir. The book mixes gallows humor and descriptions of fellow inmates with tales of his escapades, friends and foes. Rating himself above competing gossip columnists who toady to the famous, Taki skewers celebrities who displease him: Princess Margaret, Phil Donahue, Nancy Reagan et al.; to him, Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown is ``Iago'' and ``Uriah Heep.'' Yet he praises William F. Buckley and others who stood by while he was in disgrace, and practically eulogizes Richard Nixon. Taki's braggadocio casts some doubt on the sincerity of his mea culpa--even though he declares himself guilt-ridden and ashamed of his crime. But one can enjoy the story of his high and low life anyway. (June)