As it is school holidays, reading is happening, but thinking and writing is not.
I read a review of The Best of Everything here and was intrigued, Luckily I could get a copy for my Kindle (have I said how much I love my Kindle?).
This novel is Mad Men from the girls’ perspective, although as it was written in 1958, we should say Mad Men is like it.
Here is the description …
When Rona Jaffe’s superb page-turner was first published in 1958, it changed contemporary fiction forever. Some readers were shocked, but millions more were electrified when they saw themselves reflected in its story of five young employees of a New York publishing company. Almost sixty years later, The Best of Everything remains touchingly–and sometimes hilariously–true to the personal and professional struggles women face in the city. There’s Ivy League Caroline, who dreams of graduating from the typing pool to an editor’s office; naïve country girl April, who within months of hitting town reinvents herself as the woman every man wants on his arm; and Gregg, the free-spirited actress with a secret yearning for domesticity. Jaffe follows their adventures with intelligence, sympathy, and prose as sharp as a paper cut.
I loved reading this novel. The characters were very convincing (even the scary stalker one!). It was about gaining independence and moving out of the family home. They all seem to be marking time waiting for something better to come along (this usually means meeting a man and getting married – Caroline might eventually find satisfaction in her career). It is a 1950’s version of Sex and the City. The exploits of single women looking for fulfillment in New York. It is a fun read of the ‘glamourous’ life of a New York City girl.
More reviews .
http://bookssnob.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/the-best-of-everything-by-rona-jaffe/
http://www.picklemethis.com/2011/08/25/the-best-of-everything-by-rona-jaffe/
http://www.afashionacityastyle.com/2011/07/book-recommendation-best-of-everything.html