Double Life: The Shattering Affair Between Chief Judge Sol Wachtler and Socialite Joy Silverman

Wolfe ( Wasted: The Preppie Murder ) here presents an involving, sympathetic if not fully reflective account of a case that became a tabloid drama. Former New York State Chief Judge Wachtler, arrested in November 1992 for harassing his former lover and step-cousin, Joy Silverman, cooperated with the author as did his wife, Joan. Silverman did not, so Wolfe's dual biographical sketches--of the lawyer rising in Nassau County Republican politics and a woman whose apparent avarice and manipulation served her well--relies on sources hardly friendly to Silverman. Wolfe draws on Wachtler and others to describe his sexless marriage, his headiness as the affair with Silverman bloomed in 1988 and how, depressed at their breakup, he posed as a private investigator and sent vulgar, threatening letters to Silverman, who enlisted the FBI. In March 1993, Wachtler pleaded guilty to one count of harassment and was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Wolfe suggests Wachtler's behavior can be blamed on hubris; she also accepts in part his argument that prescription drugs affected his actions. Photos not seen by PW. First serial to Vanity Fair; Literary Guild selection; author tour. (Sept.)