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One Fifth Avenue
by Candace Bushnell
The "Sex and the City" author explores New York society and the implications that gossip sites and new media have on the people within it.
Once again, Bushnell offers a glimpse into the scandalous lives of fictional New Yorkers, but this time, it centers around a piece of real estate. It's the gray apartment building at “One Fifth Avenue.”
Carrie Bradshaw from “Sex and the City” writes a column for a newspaper, books and freelances for Vogue, whereas this novel centers on contemporary media of the Internet and a gossip Web site called Snarker. It sounds suspiciously like the real-life Gawker and scrutinizes successful New Yorkers, like the residents of One Fifth, just as Gawker covers Bushnell and others in real life.
The novel’s characters also have an obsession with their statuses in NY society in common, whether it is Lola, the 22-year-old girlfriend and researcher of a famous middle-aged writer, or Mindy, a bitter media executive who finds her only satisfaction in wielding power as the president of the building’s co-op board.
An early reference to Bushnell’s most famous work seems a bit forced at first, but proves she knows her audience intimately. In her introduction of the sexually-prowling Lola, she states the recent college grad is set on living in NY and finding her “Mr. Big.” The writer does well to point out that so many who are influenced by the book, TV series and movie miss the most empowering part; the four heroines had well-established careers and strove to have a love life without relying on men. Undoubtedly Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha would be sickened by Lola’s behavior, just as the rest of fictional NY society is in this account. That reference isn’t a vain plug for her most famous project, but a realistic acknowledgment of its societal impact.
Lola’s storyline is just one of many in this novel that are seamlessly interwoven in a realistic manner. “One Fifth Avenue” isn’t the next “Sex and the City,” but it’s comparably juicy and entertaining.
Title: One Fifth Avenue
Author: Candace Bushnell
Publisher: Voice
ISBN: 9781401301613
Review written by: Elizabeth Lilly
Reviewer's Rating:7
Reader's Rating: 0
Reader's Votes: 0
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