One Fifth Avenue

I picked this up in an airport and soon realized my mistake. Just couldn't get interested in the characters. ( )

I don't know why, but it took me forever to read this book. Bushnell's character development lopes along slowly, & it didn't peak my interest until past page 100. I lived this life & can attest that Bushnell cuts very close to the vest. I saw myself in Annalisa not only because we share the same name, but I worked hard for everything I got in life & I was uncomfortable being labeled a socialite once I married. Sometimes I felt like Bushnell was watching me as she wrote about Annalisa, but there are many, many Lola Fabrikants whose bodies eventually betray them. Their windows of opportunity are narrow so they strike swiftly to nail a sugar daddy. Bushnell took artist license with some of her self-centered characters because EVERY acquaintance of mine was generous and philanthropic to a fault. We established what we could live on and gave the rest away to worthwhile charities, military aid and children's charities (only in the US). I never stepped foot in H.Winston and have no use for designer anything. I can sew better than anything I've seen. When I came to this country, I didn't even speak English. My mother taught me how to sew & preserve what little we had. ( )

Guilty pleasure. Slow to get going, but then a fascinating demolition of shallow aspirational New York types. Wonderfully awful characters you love to hate. ( )

Different from "Sex & The City" but with the same New York feel. Candace Bushnell writes of a group of people who inhabit One Fifth Avenue. These were interesting people although quite different from the people that most of us know in our normal, "little" lives. Intriguing personalities -- some likeable, some not so much. I enjoyed this people and I enjoyed the read. ( )

I liked this book and found it entertaining. It took me into a world I would never live in, and see how NYC socialites live their lives. It was nice to read something that was different from the "normal" world of dating/relationships/jobs/mid-life crises books I read about all the time. ( )