One Fifth Avenue

By Candace Bushnell




One thing most people want in life, whether they wish to admit it or not, is money and the comfort that goes with it. While New York City is a very expensive place to live, there are many people who are living the "high life" by making a fantastic amount of money, which they then spend on gorgeous apartments, clothes and shoes. Candace Bushnell gives the reader a peek into this lifestyle in a fun, energetic and sexy way.

Anyone who is going to read this book must know upfront that there are some very explicit sex scenes as well as adult language. This is not the book to purchase for your fourteen-year old granddaughter for Christmas!

While the character list is a bit weighty, each character has taken on a life of its own by the end of the second chapter. There is a slew of writers: gossip columnists, bloggers, novelists, screenplay writers. There are the hedge-funders (the wealthiest of them all). There is an actress. Bushnell has even created a few characters who are not of this class, but are trying to be, like the young girl from the south who has been spoiled all her life; she comes to the city to find a rich man to marry.

The character readers will be most sympathetic of is Billy Litchfield. He is a bald, gay man (think Stanford Blatch-ish) who has lived in the city for several decades. While very personable, he is not of the same class as the rest of his friends, though he makes himself appear to be similar. He knows everyone and understands all the intricacies of "being someone." On the flip-side, he has real problems: money, an ailing mother and sibling disagreements. He is forced to deal with them in very real ways.

Not all the characters are likeable. Mindy Gooch is a cold fish; Parker Posey could play her in the movie, in a very "Meg Swan" from "Best in Show" fashion. And of course, there is the trampy Lola Fabrikant, the twenty-two-year old gold-digger.

"One Fifth Avenue" is a lot of fun. It is a dense book, in that there are a lot of names and places to take in, but it is worth it. Candace Bushnell has a definite flair for creating these glamorous and troubled stories. She gives "One Fifth Avenue" the money and sophistication of "Lipstick Jungle," and the charisma and charm of "Sex and the City."

This book is sure to be a hit.

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