Photo by Damian Brandon
I read my first Candance Bushnell book in February (Lipstick Jungle, review here!), and selected One Fifth Avenue as my second Bushnell experience. BTW: Did you know they were making The Carrie Diaries into a tv show? I did NOT until I researched for this blog post! It's coming out Fall 2012, and I have to admit, I am pretty excited and hope they can capture that "Sex and the City" (tv shows, not the movies!) magic.
This novel would be a postquel to Sex and the City instead of the Carrie Diaries prequel IF Carrie and the gang all lived in the same building and a snoopy relative and a bratty twenty-year-old also moved in. Not that the characters are versions of Carrie and company, but similar enough because they are all powerful, rich, and independent women.
This book was plot-driven for me because while I enjoyed spying on the goings-on by the inhabitants of One Fifth, a prestigious building in NYC, I didn't really like any of the characters. They were all selfish, spoiled, and sort of empty. We didn't get to know their inner thoughts and feelings much, but instead watch as they make bad decisions and seem to not truly care about anyone else in their lives.
I wouldn't trade lives with any of these women despite their fabulous addresses, fat wallets, and social status because they all reeked of loneliness and dissatisfaction. But I think that's where Bushnell's intended message lies. No matter how great things look from the outside--literally when it comes to this building--the truth is, unless you're happy with yourself, the life you've built, and the people you keep company with, where you live and your possessions add up to very little.
I can't help but agree with the New York Times Review: "Bushnell is...the philosopher-queen of the social scene" and add that the her social commentary is welcome in an age when we make reality stars famous and go to excess not with just one or two vices, but several--many that hurt our relationships with ourselves and with others.
If you find yourself relating with any of these characters, consider it your wake-up call from Bushnell to get your life together and change course.