Author: Candace Bushnell
Version: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781401301613
Published: September 22, 2008
First Published: January 1st, 2008
Publisher: Hyperion
Number of Pages: 448
Genre: Fiction, 'Chick-Lit'SYNOPSIS: Welcome to "One Fifth Avenue" the most prestigious of prestigious addresses in Manhattan. The only way to get one of the highly coveted, and highly expensive, apartments here is to have moved in sometime in the early 1900's and just stayed, married into it, inherited it, or seduce your way in. Although this elite group of Manhattanites are revered by all they are truly their very own brand of crazy. From the aging gossip columnist, to the wildly successful screenwriter, the grumpy, resentful, housewife turned blogger and the sweet mild mannered hedgefunder's wife this mix of people is a non-stop soap opera.
When the 'sort of' matriarch of one fifth passes away and her glorious penthouse apartment becomes available, the formerly staid apartment building turns into a frenzy trying to figure out exactly who deserves to be admitted to their very exclusive club. When Mindy Gooch, the head of the co-op board (and slightly resentful of the fact that her and her novelist husband and their son live in the 'worst' apartment,) makes a quick decision and invites Paul and Annalisa Rice to move in. They seem like the perfect couple, married, madly in love and he's a wildly successful mathematician who has moved to New York to help develop a secret financial software. She is a wildly successful lawyer turned housewife. To shake things up even more Enid's (the gossip columnist) nephew Phillip (the 'successful' screenwriter) starts sleeping with a 22-year-old woman with lofty dreams about what she believes she deserves. To top all the drama off Phillip's ex-girlfriend, and possible love of his life, Schiffer Diamond (an actress recently returned from LA) moves back into her apartment.
What starts off as a simple, yet very prestigious, apartment building in the mythical land of New York turns into a bee hive of never ending ups and downs. The ultimate address ends up costing everyone the ultimate price and all of the characters must figure out a way to pay it without losing everything.
REVIEW: Ever since the first time I saw "Sex & the City" I was utterly curious about who Candace Bushnell was. And so I found and read a copy of her book of the same name. I liked it, I didn't love it but I liked it enough to continue reading her fiction. This of course how I found myself reading "One Fifth Avenue." I was looking forward to it because I had enjoyed the previous books I had read. And I wasn't too disappointed in it. Sure all the different characters, and the many story lines, are a little difficult to really get into and the fact that although they all live together the stories rarely intertwine. Yes the story is probably supposed to be more about the building but that didn't really come through.
When it came to the characters they were all mostly people that you couldn't root for at all. They all were self involved and neurotic and hard to really get behind. But that was part of the charm of them in a weird way. They all felt as if they were the ones that should be living in this grand palace of a place in one of the most grand places in the world. I kind of liked that they were all as snobby and pretentious as you would imagine they would be. The fact that they were so unlikeable kind of made me like them.
The writing was classic Candace Bushnell, light, fun, witty and full of charm. It's never overdone or more then it should be. She has a fun voice that I truly enjoy reading. Her books aren't going to become true classics or something that people talk about for years in the future but they are fun. And this one was no exception, I like to recommend it to people as a really great beach/vacation read. Because that's what it is, a simple light hearted read. The writing was simple, easy to read, and it even made me giggle a time or two.
I stick to my earlier statement that this is a great beach read. And a fantastic vacation read. So I recommend it to all those out there going on a vacation to the beach and are looking for a light easy read to kind of veg out to. This is that book. Go find yourself a copy somewhere and enter the world of the most sought after and exclusive address in Manhattan.
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