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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Acquired In Exchange, May 30, 2009
This review is from: Bought: A Novel (Paperback)
Bought- acquired in exchange for money or its equivalent; purchase.
Bought in this novel is the acquisition of a woman for the evening. The city is Hollywood, the acquisition is high-priced and bought for a variety of reasons. Some men want sex and variety that their wives will not give them. Some men do not want commitment. Some men want kinky sex. Some men want more than one woman at a time. And, on and on.
Emma is a young woman from a small town near LA. She has dreams of being a journalist and works for a magazine providing quotes from celebrities as they walk the line to a major event. It is boring and unsatisfying work and Emma wants more. She would be considered a beautiful woman anywhere but Hollywood. Here, she is just one of many and does not stand out. Like many, Emma brings family issues into her life. Her younger sister is the epitome of beauty and brains and Emma's family has always favored her.
Emma befriends several other would be journalist s and one introduces her to a bevy of beautiful women who show up at parties with a different man each time. Emma learns these women are women of the evening and instead of charging money they are given jewelry, clothes or their Amex card is paid off each month. Emma is fascinated by them and starts conversations with them. She realizes she has a big story here. One of her journalist friends introduces her to Jessica, the most beautiful of them all. Jessica opens up and tells Emma she will introduce her to the business.
Emma has entered a world she is unprepared for, sex, drugs and rock and roll. What she finds is not what she thought. She delves in deeper and her relationship with Jessica takes an interesting turn. The life of the rich and beautiful is not all it seems. Emma realizes she has come to a turn in the road and it is up to her which direction she takes.
'Bought' is an interesting journey through the life of those who take, An inside look into the world of money and a lifestyle we all think we want. This is a simplistic look at these lives, but it is well written and informative. Emma is a young woman with idealism on her side, is it enough?
Recommended. prisrob 05-30-09
Party Girl: A Novel
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Gift-wrapped lies, November 5, 2009
This review is from: Bought: A Novel (Paperback)
Emma Swanson is an "People magazine" type of reporter, standing at the press lines and hoping to make it in the Hollywood publication market with a feature article. When she lands a terrific scoop about "bought" women in Hollywood - they don't take money for their companionship, but laptops, jewelry, rent, etc. - she's sure to make it. All she has to do is infiltrate the land of those bought women and find out what really goes on there. Her plans go awry when she meets Jessica, the most "bought" of them all, and Danny, a sweetly optimistic Whole Foods employee with whom she forms an almost instant friendship.
I wanted to like this book - Anna David is a talented author, and there's nothing wrong her prose - but the plot didn't seem cohesive. I was drawn into the first few chapters, relating to Emma's desire to break out of the press line and into "real writing," her parents' belief that writing isn't a real job and her insecurities as a not-perfect woman in a world of plastic perfection. By about the middle of the book, however, the coincidences and plot jumps pick up. Emma is wooed from the magazine that is buying her piece with a promise of being the editor-in-chief of a brand-new LA magazine. After her first feature, she'll be editor-in-chief? Emma barely questions this, and seems surprised (then not surprised) when she realizes the slick start-up guy wants a little more than an editor.
Jessica's character seems mildly schizophrenic: sweet and caring, evil and plotting. It's hard to summarize her without giving away key plot points; I'll just say that her background doesn't quite fit with her character, and David doesn't make the connection between who she was and who she is.
Characters appear and disappear, sometimes sticking around for lengthy portions before going away to await the final few chapters (where we basically re-meet every person in the book). I found the end somewhat satisfying, in that it tied everything up, but also unsatisfying, in that the bow was just a little too neat.
I thought I would be irritated with all of the celebrity name-dropping, but it was actually fun to read about people you see on the red carpet and how they act "off-carpet." Emma's desperation and her sarcasm add a lot of substance to the dialogue.
As a character, Emma is likable, if a bit naive. She doesn't want the life her mother has - taking care of her family, art classes and gardening - but she isn't sure what she *does* want, besides independence. Her experiences with the world of bought women helps her - and us - to see that, in many ways, we're all "bought" to some degree, by our jobs, our lives, our experiences. When she tells Jessica "we're a lot alike," she means it, but they're alike in different ways: one cares, one wants.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
It is what it is., April 14, 2010
This review is from: Bought: A Novel (Paperback)
Anna David is a novelist. And a journalist. And a 'relationship/sex/Life' guru-of-sorts.
She's very smart. She's got a great brain. (And a fabulous set of calves. LOL) And she's pretty talented.
But this novel just isn't very good.
I know; 'Ouch.'
I'm not sure what its biggest handicap is: the pitfalls of the genre (chick-lit) at its most pedestrian, or Ms David's workerlike execution. Maybe a little of both.
Here's the thing, and maybe it all comes down to this point: 'Bought' isn't very good storytelling. When you have good storytelling, the genre doesn't matter. Because that's the whole goal of a great book: the storytelling transcending the genre, taking the experience of reading the novel to a point where something resonates within the reader. It doesn't have to be Life-changing...but there has to be something that stirs. And for me, 'Bought' doesn't have it.
This is a story set against 'sex for exchange' in Hollywood. But when you take away the requisite 'chick stuff', the fashion labels, the status references...there's actually very little there.
Which isn't in itself a problem; there's nothing needing to be defended about the notion of a 'beach read'. Or a good hotdog. Or a chocolate sundae. However...
However, I don't believe that Ms David is content writing disposable fluff that clearly does not reflect either her intellect, her insight...or her innate talent.
I don't know that deep within Anna David there's a 'great' writer lurking. But I do know there's a 'better' writing dying to be given a chance. And 'Bought' was not that chance.
Personal rating: 6/10.
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