Is There Still Sex in the City? Hardcover – August 6, 2019

When I first started reading this, I hoped Bushnell would range beyond finding a sexual / more meaningful partner to other issues with which we older people deal. And she did. Wow.I will say that it needs a bit of editing. Maybe a few more commas, etc. But after a shallow start, she goes deep.But first, she gets funny and real.The book reads like a series proposal! She should get a series on Netflix or Amazon, based on this book. As great as Grace & Frankie is, this would be even better. There's a lot of comedy, and some of the scenes (the Russian facial! Max and Dagmar!) just unfold in your imagination as if you're watching them onscreen. Somebody PLEASE make a series.I did, of course, see Sarah Jessica Parker in my imagination as I read the book. And even though I couldn't imagine living in Manhattan, she really shows us what it might be like for someone who's pretty normal...she's well off, but in that setting ("Madison World") she's barely welcome in neighborhood stores. Which made her seem relatable.But after all the fun and games, somebody's got to get hurt, and Bushnell does a fine job of shifting from comedy hijinks to existential angst, which is quite poignant and realistic. I loved her observations, which are woven into the story in a subtle way. She's always about entertaining us, not preaching, but we really want to know what her experience of turning 60 looks like, and she deliver. A good book. I recommend it (and will cross fingers for series.)

I feel tricked! Love SATC, the show better than the book, but the book is still good. This is not about the characters at all, but rather about the author herself. And the stories are very shallow, boring and nothing like my 50 something life or anyone else I know. Don’t waste your money, check it out at the library if you must. I have to say the last few books that I have read by Bushnell have been highly disappointing. I guess the title of this one gave me hope. False hope.

The book started out fun, but then sizzled out towards the end for me. She had a whole chapter about her ex boyfriend from years ago bringing his son for two weeks and her freaking out how she was going to handle it. It was rather boring as she went on in great lengths what she did with this boy as having no children of herself and almost going through some breakdown. And takes us through her journey buying clothes and a bike and what it took to get training wheels and bringing him to one of her rich girlfriends homes to swim in her pools at the Hamptons. The camping out in her backyard. Will there be a thunderstorm? Should they stay in her big barn, but it floods. It just went on and on. This kept going on for a very long chapter, that I had to skip the final pages of it, as I could have cared less. Quite frankly, I got the impression she needed extra pages to fill the pages and her editor told her to go back and find something, as it did not quite read like Candace’s style. It did not read the like rest of the subject matter of the book.I have read her books. I own the series, and Sex in the City Sunday nights was sacrosanct in my home and no one dared call me that night. It was all when The Sopranos was airing that night too. Those were the days.I saw Candace interviewed on Dana Perino’s Show about this book. She looked fabulous and the subject matter sounded great as, of course, I’m in my 60’s, divorced, and sort of fall into what she is talking about. What happens to us women once we reach middle age. We become invisible. And I’m fortunate enough to look pretty darn good for my age. I look at women my age and I freak. I was just blessed with good genes and kept my weight down. But, no matter how great ya look , if you are not famous like Candace and band with a bunch of merry rich women? You can forget it.That is what is a bit of a fantasy or misnomer of her book. I mean, seriously ladies. She is famous. Has an apartment in Manhattan and a place in the Hamptons. Has a bunch of very very rich friends who have fabulous homes in the Hamptons with great pools and have nothing to worry about for the rest of their lives. Average women like ourselves? We do. I don’t get invited to these big parties given by hi tech billionaires in the Hamptons, where I may get an opportunity to me an eligible man my own age. She and all those women are privy to a class of people that the readers buying her book are not. So, that is why I gave it 3 Stars. It’s an easy read. She is a good writer. It would make a fun series on HBO. FF 25 years and show how single women in middle age are coping and being treated by society. Also in the work place. Boy did I get a taste of it. Not pretty.

Finally a book that captures what it's like to be a woman over 50 in America. Even the women you think "have it all" and are "set for life" (like Ms. Bushnell) may have a different story to tell. Part cautionary tale (not that you can do much to avoid it so why not throw all caution to the wind kind) and part snappy Bushnell writing that makes it a treat to read, this is a great escape AND there's light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, ladies, the 60s are when you get past the rage and get over your ridiculous young self. Finally. Then you can find true happiness in whatever form that means for you.

I'm a big Candace Bushnell fan. In addition to loving Sex and the City, I really enjoyed reading One Fifth Avenue, so I was thrilled to see a new title by her and pre-ordered it. My first impression, on cracking open the book was that it was "slight" - meaning the book itself was small, and there weren't a lot of words per page, making me feel this was a novella trying to pass itself off as a novel, already a cheat. Next came a surprise - though it was written as a first-person novel, it was actually non-fiction. This wouldn't have bothered me except that, once I started to read, I realized the book was beyond slight - it was a big NOTHING. There's no story, nor are there any interesting characters or observations. Bushnell seems to have made no effort whatsoever in writing this - she's a shell of her former self, at least in print. I had to stop reading after a few chapters as there was nothing to hold my attention. In the end, this book reminds me of the following joke: "Two old ladies were at a restaurant, kvetching. "The food is terrible!" said one. "Yes!" the other agreed. "And the portions are so small!"

nice