Lemann, Nancy, Ritz Of The Bayou, The Louisiana-born novelist Lemann uses her coverage of State Governor Edwin Edwards's two trials for racketeering (1985-86) to explore the unique character of the South. A modest mosaic of brief, discrete glimpses of the politicians, their families, the lawyers, and the reporters covering the trials, Lemann's puckish account suggests that the Southerner's tropical climate and slow-paced life encourage a beguiling, reckless eccentricity and a particular awareness of, and proneness to, human frailty. Gifted with a novelist's finely tuned eye and ear for revealing remark and gesture, Lemann neither condemns nor condones but simply relishes her sharply sketched real-life characters' nutty behavior. Charles C. Nash, English Dept., Cottey Coll., Nevada, Mo. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.