Four Blondes

Fun, Fluffy and full of plenty of astute observations of the sort we'd expect from the creator of Sex and the City. Although I rankled at the frequent assertions of how lazy and unkempt British women are, I did enjoy the commentary of the Manhattan relationship scene.

A collection of four loosely linked stories featuring, as the title pronounces, four blondes. The blondes in question are Janey Wilcox (‘Nice ‘n Easy’), a model who isn’t famous enough to call her own shots so she spends most of her time looking for a rich man to take her to the Hamptons every summer; Winnie (‘Highlights’), a brainy columnist who has begun to hate her journalist husband for not being successful enough; Cecilia, (‘Platinum’) a model who marries a European prince and is terrified he’s going to leave her; and lastly, an unnamed blonde journalist (‘Single Process’) who trolls London looking for a man because she’s positive that English men have got to be better than American ones.

It’s the ultimate show more in satire as well as a disturbing look into the many people who really do live such vapid, meaningless, extremely superficial existences, but who are at least sensible enough to be aware of and frightened by their own lack of substance. Bushnell is also the author of Sex and the City, but don’t let that turn you off (as it did me, initially). I haven’t read the book SatC, but after reading this I’d be willing to bet that the few bits I’ve seen of the t.v. show don’t even begin to do the book justice, because Bushnell is absolutely brilliant, scathing and right on the mark when pegging these desperate, pathetic, yet somehow occasionally likeable women. Strange as it may sound, her writing style immediately put me in mind of Bret Easton Ellis, particularly Rules of Attraction and Less Than Zero. Bushnell’s wit and timing is razor-sharp, and I was very pleasantly surprised. show less

Also reviewed here: http://porcelainulairi.wordpress.com/2011/08/21/4-blondes-gave-me-4-headaches/

Four Blondes by Candace Bushnell was one of the worst books I have ever read, and I have read some bad ones recently. I had an idea to start taking a lot of notes when I read, since I thought it would help with my reviews. But in the case of this book, I found myself just writing spiteful and angry comments, since I am not sure it warrants such a thoughtful analysis. This is my full review.

The book is about four women in New York City. They do not intermingle, nor do I think they even know each other, and each woman gets her own section. I think it would be best for me to break down each woman’s story to get a better understanding of the show more whole thing. There might be what some would consider “spoilers,” but I doubt anyone would read this book after my review or seeing other reviews online.

-Spoilers below-

The first story, entitled “Nice N’Easy,” is about Janey Wilcox, a model and former movie star (one B-rated movie). The main plot is that she needs to find a man to stay with for the summer in the Hamptons. She is narcissistic, selfish, quite stupid, and by all means a prostitute. She is obsessed with others’ looks, even her own family, and despises her sister who has actually made something of her life. In fact, I think the story of her sister would have been far more interesting. Janey is proud that she has to rely on others to get by, particularly men. When things start to go bad for her, I find I do not sympathize or pity her, like I would any other heroine. In fact, I am kind of angry in the end when things go well.

The second story, called “Highlights (For Adults),” is about Winnie. Well, actually, it is more about her tortured husband James. I say tortured because Winnie is kind of a bitch. The beginning of the story starts out telling us how great they are together because they “hate” the same things, and then goes on for two pages about things they hate (which they turn out being hypocritical about). Winnie wants success for James, but really only so she can ride his coattails, which in fact is what she did by marrying him (they are both journalists). It ends up that they hate each other, but they are both fearful to leave. In the end, they both have an affair, making Winnie happier, and James more scared (that Winnie will find out). Such a nice ending, don’t you think?

Princess Cecelia is the third story, “Platinum.” She is neurotic and paranoid. She snagged a prince, who for whatever reason works as an executive at a T.V. show, but she is very unhappy. She thinks someone is poisoning her, but really she is just taking a lot of pills. She is horrible to her husband and ends up making friends with another star, famous for killing her husband, and goes off on a wild drinking/coke binge. Her husband is cold, but when she goes into an episode, I feel more sympathy for him than I do for her.

The last story is incredibly short, “Single Process.” The woman telling it does not give her name, but she is a writer who is given an assignment to go to England and find out about sex. The story is mostly about how the English hate sex, how they are bad at it , etc. It seems more like one long joke on the English than it does about the writer. She claims she “fell in love” with an Englishman after a few days, but when her assignment is over, she meets someone on a plane and moves on within hours. I ended this story thinking it was supposed to be Carrie from Sex and the City.

I can honestly say that I despised every character in this book, possibly aside from the writer, but her story was so short it was hard to tell. I know this is just chick lit, but it is poorly written chick lit. A character should be someone we are interested in, whether we care about them or hate them, we WANT to know what will happen to them. Maybe it’s even someone we relate to. Either way, we have a vested interest. I had none of that with this book. There were also times that I became frustrated with Bushnell’s writing style. The conversations were often clunky or awkward, and during Winnie and James’ section, every other sentence was a parenthesized remark (kind of like how my paragraph about them went).

I think it is clear from my statements above that I do not recommend this book, not even for a fun summer read at the beach. There are many more novels out there that can give you simple enjoyment, but without being trashy. show less

The author whose name is synonymous with her novel "Sex and the City" weighs in again with four loosely linked tales: in "Four Blondes" she returns with a quartet of novellas on her favorite subject -- the mating habits of wealthy sex-, status-, and media-obsessed New Yorkers. These are people for whom a million or two does not make one rich, and who consider Louis Vuitton and Prada bare necessities.

The novel is broken up into 4 sections, each one dedicated to a different shade of blonde and the woman who the corresponding shade belongs to. The first woman, Janey (Nice `n Easy) has the best story in terms of being interesting and the fact that it could end in an unconventional way. However, by the end, I'm disappointed by the Hollywood show more ending that is meant to be empowering but is completely unrealistic.

Which brings me to the next point: suspend reality to enjoy this one as the second story; while it features an empowered and powerful woman, glorifies some behavior that is, well, not to be emulated at all. Winnie (Highlights) is mean, bitter and obsessive compulsive. So that gets you nice and welcoming for the third story, where, suspend reality please, Princess Cecilia (Platinum) comes in. Being able to connect with the neurotic, spoiled princess is a little difficult. lastly, an unnamed blonde journalist (Single Process) who trolls London looking for a man because she's positive that English men have got to be better than American ones.

These women need serious psychological help at the very least. The book goes absolutely nowhere with absolutely no plot. The bleak, non-sexy, self-absorbed world Bushnell attempts to glamourize reveals that not only do blondes not have fun, their roots are showing under the bleach.

Book Details:

Title 4 Blondes
Author Candace Bushnell
Reviewed By Purplycookie show less

Review: 4 Blonds by Candace Bushnell.

This is a book with four unrelated stories. The four women in the stories were all blond. That’s the only thing they had in common. Plus, every character in the book was a model, a writer, an actor, or a business person. I honestly didn’t care for the book but I read it to the end. I thought the stories didn’t have much humor if any at all. Let’s face it the book was boring. Yet, if you like women who carry around vials of cocaine like its normal and who are completely down to earth addicts then you will like the stories.

After reading the novel I don’t know how Candace Bushnell became a writer. The first story the reader has Janey Wilcox who is manipulative and a sordid disreputable show more person. who cares about no one but herself. Every summer she looks for a man who spends his summer in the Hamptons and she doesn’t even have to care about the man. It’s the luxury homes, free rent, food, spending sprees and expensive jewelry she is given to carry her through the winter and finds another man in the Hamptons summer after summer.

The second story is about a jealous New York journalist, Winnie Dieke who logs on to Amazon.com to read competitors work and reviews and smiles if their rates are low. Winnie hates everything and everyone. She believes she is the greatest journalist and her husband is a journalist and her being the best is a secret to him. Winnie isn’t scared of anything. When she has an impossible deadline or can’t get people to cooperate on interviews, or doesn’t think she’s getting the assignments she wants she gets over angry. She calls people and screams, sends e-mail’s of her unhappiness or marches into her editor’s offices and has a hissy fit until she gets what she wants.

Then we have the story of a social climber who pretends to be sleeping and waits until her husband goes into the bathroom and she slips out of bed and runs to her secret stash and snorts a large line of cocaine. She thinks she’s a beauty princess but turns into a disillusioned, pill-popping addict. Her hilarious misadventures are managed by a gloating jubilant feeling in staccato prose which is described by her gay friend.

The last story isn’t even good enough to mention. I’ll say this; somehow Blonds have more fun… Candace Bushnell writes about shallow blond women who are self-absorbed in Ney York that think about nothing but sex, money, and designer clothes… show less

This book is quite an easy and somewhat enjoyable read, but isn't particularly well written. However, Candace Bushnell books are one of my 'guilty pleasures'. It's basically four separate stories, with the 4 blondes of the title being the main character in each. Frankly, not one of the characters is very likeable. Janey Wilcox, the main character in the first story comes closest to being a halfway decent human being, but the book portrays all the women as shallow, self-absorbed and selfish creatures. It is difficult to root for any of them or to care about any of them. The fourth story (which I imagine is meant to be at least partly autobiographical) is pretty offensive to British people too. I realise that this review sounds quite show more scathing, but despite everything I've said, I still couldn't help finding it fairly enjoyable! show less

When I first picked up this book, I didn't realize that it was really four novellas. The stories are snap shots into four women's lives: the good, bad, and ugly. It should how some where connected through friends or acquaintances and also how just because it seems you should have the perfect life, doesn’t mean you do. While different from Bushnell’s other books, it was good and a very enjoyable read.