One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell
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Book Reviews of One Fifth Avenue
Book Review: Finished it happily
Summary: 5 Stars
First book in my life outside of high school, under grad, and grad school that I finished completely through. Point made.Book Review: loved it all!
Summary: 5 Stars
Best book I've read recently! Long, but a true page turner. Loved the stories within a story.Book Review: Bushnell's best effort...
Summary: 4 Stars
One Fifth Avenue is one of, if not THE most prestigious co-op building in Manhattan. Everyone wants to live there, but only the rich socialites get to do so. Unless you're James and Mindy Gooch, a middle-aged married couple who live in one of the smaller apartments. She is a member of the co-op board and he is a novelist on the rise. They will never have the same cachet and social status as Philip Oakland -- award-winning book author turned screenwriter -- and his elderly aunt Enid, or draw in the public's attention as movie star Schiffer Diamond. Mindy is never taken seriously by the other tenants and things get worse when Paul and Annalisa Rice move in to what once had been the grand apartment of the late socialite Louise Houghton. Annalisa is a social climber and her husband is a ruthless billionaire. Annalisa is befriended by a fifty-something gay man who, in spite of his lack of fortune, is well loved in all social circles. Then there's Lola Fabrikant, twenty-two-year-old daughter of a businessman from Atlanta. When she discovers that her parents no longer have money, she begins a relationship with Philip, without knowing that Philip has had an on-again, off-again relationship with forty-something Schiffer, whom he still loves. She wants to secure a marriage from him and, as a result, a permanent place in One Fifth. Throw in lots of society commentary, ironic twists, mid-life crisis, unhappy marriages, jewelry theft, suicide and murder, and you get a story not unlike something Edith Wharton would have written had she been alive in this era.
One Fifth Avenue is a great, entertaining read. It shows a darker side to New York's "polite society" and the importance of living in the right address. You get a great deal of insight into a sought-after co-op apartment building and the people who live in it. Candace Bushnell, known for writing Sex and the City and Lipstick Jungle, succeeds in writing an Edith Whartonesque novel, only this has a little Olivia Goldsmith thrown in as well. This is her best work yet, in my opinion. The one thing I don't like about this book is that it is a little hard to keep up with all of the characters and the constant head-hopping gets irritating after a while. And Bushnell does not research Springfield, Massachusetts, very well. She makes it sound like some backwater hick town as opposed to what it actually is: a smallish city with one of the largest and most important hospitals in the northeast. Also, this novel has a great backdrop of the modern Internet and smartphone age. There is a whole lot of blogging and texting going on. Even the old characters do it. I think Bushnell has a contract with Apple or something because she brings up the iPhone and other Apple products A LOT. In fact, the character James Gooch has a deal with Apple that will help sell his book. Interesting. Other than that, I very much enjoyed One Fifth Avenue.
Book Review: Tell me where you live and I will tell you who you are... Mordant, witty, one of a kind.
Summary: 4 Stars
Whoever has lived in New York knows perfectly well that where you live is as important, if not even more, than what you wear and who you marry.
Competition for wealth, notoriety, power, and place of residence have been and always will be part of the City that never sleeps and Candace's "One Fifth Avenue" is a mercilessly witty modern day story of old and new money, the always combustible mix that E. Wharton and Fitzgerald described so well in decades past... The sexual politics, real estate theft, the thirst for power and social prominence are all freshly presented and uncannily described.
One Fifth Avenue is a one of a kind address, it's the sort of building you have to earn your way into, and when Louise Houghton dies, there's just one too many who are willing to fight for her splendid apartment in this Art Deco beauty towering over one of Manhattan's oldest and most historically hip neighborhoods.
For the women in Candace's novel, this apartment building is essential to their lives and their dreams and they are not going to stop at nothing to get a place within its magical walls.
There's new rich Annalisa Rice married to the computer whiz Paul Rice who cannot tolerate the neighbors and who is growing more and more paranoid as his success and limitless fortune grows.
There's Mindy Gooch, James' wife who is the President of the Board for the building and who is not willing to change any apartment to please the residents; she just wishes she could live in a better looking apartment than the one she's got, which used to be the servants quarters in the good old New York days.
Then there's actress Schiffer Diamond who decides to return to Manhattan after her long stay in L.A. when she gets a part on a TV series.
There's Enid, Philip's aunt and one of the oldest residents in the entire building and then there's Lola Fabrikant who is a 22 year old woman who comes to New York to meet potential husbands and who ends up living with a good for nothing guy just like her.
This novel is yet another success, kudos for Candace for doing it again.
Book Review: Wonderful read about social status
Summary: 4 Stars
Having not been too impressed with the book Sex and the City, but being a HUGE fan of the show and also of Lipstick Jungle, I decided to pick this one up. All I have to say that I am really glad that I did.
Yes, there are alot of characters and several different stories built into the plot, but it all truly fits together. Candace Bushnell's writing style also leaves nothing to complain about. She really drew me into a story that could have been quite complicated with all the different characters, but like I said it fits together beautifully.
The story is basically about life in an apartment building on Fifth Avenue as the title states. This is a very coveted building to live on this posh street. It seems there is someone ready to move in or dreaming of the day they can move in when an apartment becomes availabe, and this is exactly what happens when an older lady in penthouse apartment dies. Turns out a nouveau rich by hedge fund couple moves into the wanted apartment, and there are a few residents not happy about it. This is the main story, but within this are several little stories that tie together about a handful of the residents in the building.
The main theme of the book, I believe is looking at the lives of the upper crust of New York society. Those who are a part such as the aunt, those who would like to be included such as Mindy Gooch and Lola, and those who are new to the society such as the hedge fund couple. And there is also the fridge of the society, namely, Billy, who is part of the society but only for what he can do for others.
I get this feeling there is still somewhat of a bias of the nouveau rich from the old money in this society. If you have money you will be accepted, but sometimes at arms length.
Candace Bushnell gives great insight into the lives of the posh and the wanna be's of the posh side of New York City. If you enjoy her other works or shows based on her works give this one a try.