Something to Read: Sex and the City – Candace Bushnell

/ February 3, 2013

ATTENTION SPOILERS!

7455Sex and the City (the book) is a collection of essays written by Candace Bushnell, based on her own column Sex and the City in the New York Observer. Everything in the book is based on her life and on her friends’ lives. The book was first published in 1996 and I was lucky to find the republished 2001 edition which also contains the two last chapters …and a different ending than the series.

>>buy the book here

In the book we meet “the modelizers”, the “toxic bachelors” , as well as Carrie and Mr. Big. Samantha, Stanford and Miranda are also in there…but you’d be surprised to realize that the ones in the series are a “combination” of multiple personalities from the book. Plus, the series is narrated from Carrie’s point of view but the book is written from Candace’s and Carrie is just one of her friends – and may I say a pretty nasty character in comparison with the series?

By the end of the book, Mr Big and Carrie split up – due to her, not him. As for the other characters, Sam ends up in LA and Miranda – who is NOT a lawyer in the book – finds her love. Mr Big is happily married. Carrie is happily single.

The book was ADAPTED in the Sex and the city series. However the series and the following two movies were also written by Candace. I did recognize some scenes from the book which made there way as they were in the series.

Overall, it wasn’t a bad read, but since I am a big of fan of the series, I can say that I am not totally in love with the book.

My favorite quotes:

“If you fuck with me, I will make it my personal business to destroy you. And don’t think for a second that I won’t take a great deal of pleasure in doing it.”

“Welcome to the Age of Un-Innocence. The glittering lights of Manhattan that served as backdrops for Edith Wharton’s bodice-heaving trysts are still glowing—but the stage is empty. No one has breakfast at Tiffany’s, and no one has affairs to remember—instead, we have breakfast at seven A.M. and affairs we try to forget as quickly as possible. How did we get into this mess?”

“Every time a man tells me he’s a romantic, I want to scream,” she said. “All it means is that a man
has a romanticized view of you, and as soon as you become real and stop playing into his fantasy, he gets turned off. That’s what makes romantics dangerous. Stay away.”

About the author:

Candace Bushnell is an American author and columnist based in New York City. She’s an international best-selling author of Sex and the City, Summer and the City, The Carrie Diaries (currently airing on CW) , One Fifth Avenue, Lipstick Jungle, Trading Up and Four Blondes.

She was born in Connecticut. She went to university in New York and quickly became a socialite and a party-goer. When she moved to New York , she took freelancing gigs to afford staying in the big city. She used to have a column in the New York Observer, called Sex and the City which was based on her dating experiences as well as on her friends’.


>>also by the same author: The Carrie Diaries and Summer in the City

0 thoughts on “Something to Read: Sex and the City – Candace Bushnell”

  1. Pingback: Things that Make me Happy – January 2013 | LooknWalk

  3. Pingback: Something to Read: The Carrie Diaries – Candace Bushnell | LooknWalk

  4. Pingback: Something to Read: Summer in the City (The Carrie Diaries #2) – Candace Bushnell | LooknWalk

  5. Your review is so thorough and apt. Mine feels like a baby in front of your polished, in-depth analysis. Great post!
    I liked the character of Charlotte. I kept trying to find her. By the middle of the book I realized she was not there.
    Quote I liked – “There are worse things than being thirty-five, single, and female in new York. Like Being twenty-five, single, and female in new York.”

    Reply

    • Awww thank you. It’s kind of a “rushed review” written so that I won’t forget what I wanted to say. Charlotte is there but not as “Charlotte”. There is a character which resembles her and shows up when they travel to the baby shower (which was kind of neatly turned into one of the episodes, too).
      Also, Charlotte barely makes an appearance by the end of “Summer in the City”…too bad, cause she is a nice character.

      Reply

        • The Carrie Diaries is somewhat the “base” for the series with the same name but they “adapted” the series, as well, just like they did with SATC.
          Summer in the City (The Carrie Diaries #2) follows Carrie when she goes to New York and meets Samantha (much more similar to the character in the series) and Miranda (similar but with a different job). Charlotte only shows up at the very end of the book 🙁 However, I liked more these two books than SATC book. The language is a bit different but still witty.

          Reply

          • I am reading ‘Have a Little Faith’ and a book from the Chicken Soup Series. I have not heard many good things about FSG, what is your impression of it till now?

          • If you are into erotic stories, you might like it. I think the English is pretty…basic, though.
            Everything I heard was amazing about the trilogy, that’s why I decided to read it.
            But then again I’m in Europe and we are very open minded LOL

          • I tried reading M&B (Mills and Boons if you’re unfamiliar). Not my cup of tea. I am from India and I try to focus on enjoying the book rather than trying to measure it against any standards. I was put off by the fact that was Twilight series in disguise + erotic

          • I haven’t touched Twilight nor do I plan to. Vampires aren’t supposed to do that LOL
            Kamasutra is Indian but I doubt you’d be put off by it – have you read it? I have a loooong time ago (2002 or so).
            Somehow these late erotic novels aren’t my type. I can stomach a love story with a bit erotic stuff here and there but if I wanted hardcore porn I could watch a porn TV channel, you know.
            I only wanted to read 50 Shades of Grey b/c of the raves I’ve heard from friends…

          • I haven’t read Twilight Saga either. I watched the movies and decided to skip the book. I have not read KS and do not plan to read it in the future either.

          • Thankfully I am way past the age of watching movies b/c of cute actors LOL actually I’d rather read than watch a movie. Right now I watch The Carrie Diaries series and NCIS (CSI New York just had a season finale). So I was just searching for neat books to read after I am done wt 50 Shades of Grey. Probably something travel related. I am done wt romance for a while :))

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.