WHERE THERE’S A WILL: Who Inherited What...

WHERE THERE’S A WILL: Who Inherited What and Why by Stephen M. Silverman (HarperPerennial: $9.). These silly accounts of who left what to whom might be subtitled “death styles of the rich and famous.” Lillian Hellman’s detailed will even listed who was to get her VCR; Alan Jay Lerner left $1,000 to two old chums to pay for an evening of “cheerful recollections of their departed friend.” Cole Porter wanted his collection of cigarette cases to go to the Museum of Modern Art (the gift was refused). Silverman enjoys recounting salacious details, noting that designer Perry Ellis denied having AIDS and put a male ex-lover in charge of the trust he established for his daughter. But he overlooks such interesting data as the considerable sums W. C. Fields hid under an assortment of pseudonyms in banks all over country and abroad. “Where There’s a Will” suggests Silverman has missed his true calling: He should be writing obituaries for Vanity Fair.