ISBN: 9780446557900
Publisher: Grand Central
Publication Date: 6/23/2015
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 2 Stars
In KILLING MONICA Bushnell spoofs and skewers her way through pop culture, celebrity worship, fame, and even the meaning of life itself, when a famous writer must resort to faking her own death in order to get her life back from her most infamous creation--Monica. With her trademark wit and style, KILLING MONICA is Bushnell's sharpest, funniest book to date.
About the Author
Candace Bushnell is the critically acclaimed, international best-selling novelist whose first book, Sex and the City, was the basis for the HBO hit series and subsequent blockbuster movie. Her fourth novel, Lipstick Junglebecame a popular television series on NBC. Bushnell’s novels include Four Blondes (2000), Trading Up (2003),Lipstick Jungle (2005), One Fifth Avenue (2008) and The Carrie Diaries (2010).
Bushnell grew up in Glastonbury, Ct, and moved to New York City at age 19. She attended Rice University and New York University, and began her professional career at 19 when she wrote a children’s book for Simon & Schuster.
Throughout her twenties, Bushnell developed her trademark style as a freelancer, writing darkly humorous pieces about women, relationships and dating for Mademoiselle, Self Magazine, and Esquire. In 1990, she wrote a column that would become a precursor for Sex and the City, called "The Human Cartoon", a fictional serial published in Hamptons Magazine. She began writing for the New York Observer in 1993; in November of 1994 she created the column Sex and the City, which ran in the New York Observer for two years. The column was bought as a book in 1995, and sold to HBO as a series in 1996.
Recently, she hosted a radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio, called Sex, Success, and Sensibility, which aired from October 2006 to October 2008. She is currently at work on two young adult novels, The Carrie Diaries, which will explore the life of Carrie Bradshaw during in her teenage years in New York.
Through her books and television series, Bushnell’s work has influenced and defined two generations of women. She is the winner of the 2006 Matrix Award for books (other winners include Joan Didion and Amy Tan), and a recipient of the Albert Einstein Spirit of Achievement Award. She currently resides in Manhattan. Website Twitter Goodreads
My Review
A special thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. (also purchsed the audio version)
Candace Bushnell creator of the much loved New York Carrie Bradshaw’s (Sarah Jessica Parker') Sex and the City, a series featuring female friendship, single life, hot Manhattan spots, fashion, drinking, sex, shoes, and Mr. Big-- A self-proclaimed shoe fetishist, Carrie focused most of her attention and finances on designer footwear, primarily Manolo Blahniks, Louboutin and Jimmy Choo. Bushnell returns with KILLING MONICA an attempt at portraying another character, a Manhattan writer, desiring to kill off her main character in order to reinvent herself-- and switch to historical fiction. Pandemonia J. Wallis, a best-selling author of a series about a successful woman in New York surrounded by female friends – The Monica books. The series has been a hit, bringing PJ wealth, fame, and recognition. However, her audience wants more Monica. She wants her character to go away. To die. She wants to kill her. So she can be free to reinvent herself. Now 40-something author wants a do over. However, the actress playing Monica (Sondra Beth Schnowzer), former best friend--with stunning looks and millions of viewer fans is a pain. Monica has grown to despise her. She has taken over her character and acts as though she owns it. A lot of bad friction here, since she slept with her boyfriend, and now cheating ex-husband has taken all her money in a divorce. The two friends/enemies, and characters, cannot even compare to Carrie Bradshaw and Sex and the City gals; where the focus was on the sex lives of four female best friends, three in their mid-to-late thirties, and one of whom is in her forties. (Samantha Jones-my favorite, Miranda Hobbes, and Charlotte York). They actually had deep conversations. They were realistic. Nothing like these self-absorbed, champagne-drinking, air heads, fake, and non-interesting characters. In addition, PJs publisher has rejected her new historical fiction book, and she hates men - miserable all the way around. Then there is Henry, PJs agent, and the sister-- which will leave you shaking your head with a twist at the end. Unfortunately, not able to recommend this one. Do not expect another Sex and the City. Nowhere even close. No nice heroine. The book will most likely leave readers with a lingering negative thought: how does the author really feel about Sarah Jessica Parker, who ran away with her character, Carrie? Carrie (SJP) took on the character, leaving Bushnell in the background—same as character in Killing Monica.
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