Trading UpAuthor: Bushnell, CandaceGenre: General Novels Publisher: Hyperion Press Released: July 1, 2003 |
A Review by Aly Walansky
09/09/2003
Hence, Sex and the City's Carrie Bradshaw, an intriguing character, is really a dramatized version of Bushnell. And while that is fine and worked as fodder for a tremendously entertaining television series, the character has now been done. It would seem that Bushnell would realize that and attempt to create other characters or, at least, other plots, for future works.
However, she seems to be going with the adage that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Trading Up, Candace Bushnell's latest novel, features a model-cum-socialite named Janey Wilcox whom is Carrie Bradshaw, from the physical descriptions down to the thought processes. Bushnell's changed the career and the name, but everything else—even a lot of the people she comes in contact with—is going to sound eerily reminiscent of Sex and the City.
Not that this is the first time this has happened. Four Blondes, the book in which the Janey character was introduced, also told tales of Hampton babes shopping and carousing among New York City's elite. Apparently, Bushnell has not only found her genre; she's created her own mini one.
Janey is a Victoria's Secret model who has risen to the top after years of using sex “with short, paunchy, bald men with hair in their ears and fungus on their toes" to advance her career and lifestyle. Why not? Eva Peron did it.
Actually, Janey is one of those extremely gratifying heroines, in that she is simultaneously a fantasy and an aberration. She is beautiful and leads a glamorous lifestyle that most women could only dream of, but she is also incredibly selfish, short-sighted, and self-involved. Then again, who wouldn't be, in her shoes?
The reader gets the impression that with this book, Bushnell was really trying to be darker, say something a little deeper, have some sort of meaningful moral about biting off more than you can chew, or the value of honesty, or the power of perseverance. The seeds were indeed there. However, even in the four hundred pages that this book takes up, the moral never quite happens. This book, like the former two, is simply a commentary on the ins and outs of the Manhattan/Hampton/Los Angeles social scene. It's complete with the obligatory name-dropping and retail nods. Just like Carrie, Janey cannot fathom an existence which does not include Manolos, Prada, and Cosmopolitan.
Bushnell's prior two books, Sex and the City and Four Blondes, were written in the first person. This one is written in the third person, and I think that might be a large part of the reason why it is so hard to feel compassion for the protagonist. Told in this way, Janey comes off as even more stagnant and self-involved than she would in a narrative. It is obvious Bushnell is trying to make her into a sympathetic character at times, but there's something about cold, conniving, vindictive social-climbers: They tend not to be all that likeable.
However, it is perhaps the “unlikeableness” of Janey that marks the main departure this book makes from Bushnell's other two. Sex and the City—aside from the often comedic trials the girls go through—makes the life of the wealthy and popular look enviable and downright fun. This book tells the other side of the story: These friendships are all based on manipulation, betrayal, and social politics. It appears that a life surrounded by the elite, wearing the best clothes, and going to A-list parties can be an extremely tenuous one, and a grand experience in loneliness. If Candace Bushnell is offering us a telescopic view into her own world, this just might be a written version of reality television for the rich and famous.
It seems the secret to a good summer read is a fantastical visit to a world we either don't understand or could never ourselves experience, coupled by a dose of envy or moral superiority. This book might leave you feeling just a little bit dirty, but, with those qualifications in mind, it most certainly has everything you're looking for.
© Copyright ToxicUniverse.com 09/09/2003
