From the bestselling author of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA comes a no-holds barred expose of the world of the Manhattan super-rich and super-successful. Bette is 27, smart, pretty, fun - and bored. When she splits up with her long-term boyfriend, she decides it's time for a change. A chance meeting propels her into a new role as a party planner. Running with the cool Manhattan pack, Bette can hardly believe her luck. Suddenly, the greatest city in the world is her own personal playground and boy, the toys are incredible! But quicker than you can say Manolo Blahnik, everything starts to fall apart. Bette finds herself the prey of a notorious playboy - and suddenly the lead item of the society gossip columns. Her new boss couldn't be more thrilled but Bette's family and old friends are less so. The girl they know and love, with a penchant for dodgy romance novels, cheesy 80s music and junk food, is in danger of turning into just another Park Avenue Princess. As Bette struggles to keep both her old and new lives from imploding, she finds salvation in an unlikely form. But can she say goodbye to the glamour and the Gucci, the Prada and the parties, and step back into the real world - and into the arms of a real Prince Charming?
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Lauren Weisberger, whose bestselling debut The Devil Wears Prada outed the vicious antics of the magazine industry elite, is back at it with Everyone Worth Knowing, another cautionary tale of sex, power, and fame. This time around, the PR industry is her target, and Prada fans will recognize similar themes throughout this entertaining, if at times overly dramatic, exposé.
See more recommendations from Lauren Weisberger
Bette Robinson is a twentysomething Emory graduate who shunned her parents' hippie ideals in favor of a high-paying yet excruciatingly boring job at a prestigious investment bank. One day, after a particularly condescending exchange with her boss (who sends her daily inspirational e-mails), Bette walks out on her job in a huff. After a few weeks of sleeping late, watching Dr. Phil and entertaining her dog Millington, Bette's uncle scores her a job at an up-and-coming public relations firm, where her entire job seems to revolve around staying out late partying and providing fodder for clandestine gossip columns. What follows is one episode after another of Bette climbing up the social ladder at the expense of her friends, family, and the one guy who actually seems worth pursuing.
Weisberger is clever enough to turn seemingly outrageous circumstances into amusing anecdotes, like the tale of a woman who was close to suicide until she found out she was only 18 months away from scoring a highly coveted Birkin bag ("You simply cannot kill yourself when you're that close ... it's just not an option."). This wit, combined a hint of voyeurism that most of us can't deny, is what makes Everyone Worth Knowing a guilty pleasure that's well worth the indulgence. --Gisele Toueg
The Significant Seven with Lauren Weisberger
Lauren graciously agreed to answer the questions we like to ask every author.
Q: What book has had the most significant impact on your life?
A: Very tough question. For the first half of my life, it would definitely have to be Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume. I worshipped that book. Recently, I'd say that it was Empire Falls by Richard Russo. Even though there's not a tremendous amount of action, the characters are brilliant. It's a hauntingly realistic depiction of small-town America. And the place descriptions are so compelling that the book is compulsively page-turning.
Q: You are stranded on a desert island with only one book, one CD, and one DVD--what are they?
A: This is not the time for self-improvement, that's for sure--they'd all have to be 100% entertainment. For book it would have to be The Last of the California Girls, a random novel that I've read 2,000 times; for CD I would say Monster Ballads, the album of cheesy 80's love songs that I ordered from an 800-number, and for DVD, it would be Dirty Dancing, of course.
Q: What is the worst lie you've ever told?
A: That one's easy. It goes something like this: "Hi, (insert editor's name here)! Yes, of course, it's already finished. I'm just tweaking a few sentences, and I'll have the whole draft to you by Monday, latest."
Q: Describe the perfect writing environment.
A: For me, the best writing environments are all about deprivation and the removal of temptation. Therefore, anywhere on earth where there's no TV, no phone, no internet access, no friends, and no fridge is pretty much perfect.
Q: If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
A: I really don't want to think about this one, but if I HAVE to, I hope it would include a few keywords like "brilliant," "supremely talented," and "drop-dead gorgeous."
Q: Who is the one person living or dead that you would like to have dinner with?
A: I'm supposed to say Hemingway or Moses or Madonna, right? It'd probably just be my sister, Dana. We already have a lot of dinners together, so I know it's a guaranteed good laugh.
Q: If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
A: The ability to be invisible! It would make all my current spying/stalking/staring SO much easier.
Lauren Weisberger's List of Books You Should Read
 so80s |  Marjorie Morningstar |  Kissing in Manhattan |  Bright Lights, Big City |  Glamorama |
See more recommendations from Lauren Weisberger
From Publishers Weekly
A 27-year-old New York banker quits her job and finds work at a posh PR agency, trading her navy pantsuits for low-slung jeans and skimpy tops so she can hang out with the beautiful people at "in" places like Bungalow 8 (though first she has to find out what Bungalow 8 is). Weisberger's bestselling The Devil Wears Prada hinged on a similar fish-out-of-water scenario, and while it may have worked then, this time around it feels like a rehash. Bette Robinson begins as a likable enough character, but it isn't long before Weisberger's caricature of her becomes frustrating: Bette is surprisingly successful at her new job, even as she's constantly complaining about "the ridiculousness of what we were doing"—i.e., orchestrating Manhattan social events in such a way that the agency's clients look good in gossip columns. Bette's personal life gets equally ridiculous treatment, as she enters into a "just for looks" and very public relationship with a British heartthrob who's really gay, as her friends and family (and the guy she really likes) look on in horror. The book occasionally entertains—as when it makes jabs at the very critics who panned DWP—but not nearly often enough.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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More About the Author
Lauren Weisberger is the author of The Devil Wears Prada, which spent more than a year on the New York Times hardcover and paperback bestseller lists. The film version, starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway, won a Golden Globe Award and grossed over $300 million worldwide. Her second novel, Everyone Worth Knowing, was also a New York Times bestseller. She lives in New York City with her husband.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
75 of 79 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have a feeling there was a conversation that went something like this:
Editor: We want another 'Devil Wears Prada.'
Lauren Weisberger: I don't want to write the same book again, that's boring.
Editor: We'll pay you.
Lauren Weisberger: I don't know. How much?
Editor: A lot.
Laruen Weisberger: Such as...?
Editor: A million dollars.
Lauren Weisberger: Know what? Funny you should bring this up, but I actually have this idea that's pretty much The Devil Wears Prada, but in the PR industry...
Editor: We want another 'Devil Wears Prada.'
Lauren Weisberger: I don't want to write the same book again, that's boring.
Editor: We'll pay you.
Lauren Weisberger: I don't know. How much?
Editor: A lot.
Laruen Weisberger: Such as...?
Editor: A million dollars.
Lauren Weisberger: Know what? Funny you should bring this up, but I actually have this idea that's pretty much The Devil Wears Prada, but in the PR industry...
29 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"Going out is part of your job now, just remember that!" squeals one of the characters in Lauren Weisberger's second novel, "Everyone Worth Knowing." As with her much-hyped first novel, this is a boo-hoo-poor-li'l-me slice of chick-lit, bemoaning how very tough it is to be live the exalted life. Oh, stop whining.
Bette Robinson quits her tedious job when her boss (think Lumbergh from "Office Space") annoys her one time too many. At first, she's confused about what to do next, and being a gossip columnist with her gay uncle is not exactly her idea of a great job. But then she falls in with a different kind of "journalism" -- at a PR and party planning firm.
At first, Bette is intoxicated by the wild nightlife of A-listers and clubs, and is rescued by a hot-yet-arrogant British "Nightlife Adonis." Soon SHE is in the gossip columns. Unfortunately, her new job threatens to derail life with those she loves -- her hippie parents, who want something better for her, and the hot bouncer she's falling in love with.
Someone needs to tell Wisberger that a guilty pleasure is no fun if the author gets sanctimonious about it. Sure, cater to people's love of the high life, wild parties and even throw in a moral or two about the shallowness of fame. But if the author has actually lived it, then moaning how very terrible it is to be famous, pretty and well-paid will only be annoying.
Much of the middle of this book exists just to tie the end and beginning together; Weisberger tries to cover up the lack of a real plot with lots of topless costume parties, celebrity name-dropping, drugs and a contrived subplot about a pal marrying her trust-fund loser. It takes some special writing to redeem a plot full of cliches and tabloid fodder, and this is not special writing.
And Bette is not the heroine to redeem it either -- she hardly even has opinions of her own, let alone a personality. Her self-righteous hippie parents at least have a quirky appeal, even if her boyfriends and pals are cardboard cutouts. And someone needs to tell Weisberger that it is not cute, clever or funny to name a gay pal (even an uncle) "Will."
"Everyone Worth Knowing" comes across as an attempt at self-justification by someone who has been there, yet doesn't want to admit that it was fun. Like a drunken one-night stand -- sloppily done and unmemorable. Once it's done, you'll wonder what you were thinking.
Bette Robinson quits her tedious job when her boss (think Lumbergh from "Office Space") annoys her one time too many. At first, she's confused about what to do next, and being a gossip columnist with her gay uncle is not exactly her idea of a great job. But then she falls in with a different kind of "journalism" -- at a PR and party planning firm.
At first, Bette is intoxicated by the wild nightlife of A-listers and clubs, and is rescued by a hot-yet-arrogant British "Nightlife Adonis." Soon SHE is in the gossip columns. Unfortunately, her new job threatens to derail life with those she loves -- her hippie parents, who want something better for her, and the hot bouncer she's falling in love with.
Someone needs to tell Wisberger that a guilty pleasure is no fun if the author gets sanctimonious about it. Sure, cater to people's love of the high life, wild parties and even throw in a moral or two about the shallowness of fame. But if the author has actually lived it, then moaning how very terrible it is to be famous, pretty and well-paid will only be annoying.
Much of the middle of this book exists just to tie the end and beginning together; Weisberger tries to cover up the lack of a real plot with lots of topless costume parties, celebrity name-dropping, drugs and a contrived subplot about a pal marrying her trust-fund loser. It takes some special writing to redeem a plot full of cliches and tabloid fodder, and this is not special writing.
And Bette is not the heroine to redeem it either -- she hardly even has opinions of her own, let alone a personality. Her self-righteous hippie parents at least have a quirky appeal, even if her boyfriends and pals are cardboard cutouts. And someone needs to tell Weisberger that it is not cute, clever or funny to name a gay pal (even an uncle) "Will."
"Everyone Worth Knowing" comes across as an attempt at self-justification by someone who has been there, yet doesn't want to admit that it was fun. Like a drunken one-night stand -- sloppily done and unmemorable. Once it's done, you'll wonder what you were thinking.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By J. Sklar
Format:Hardcover
I thought this would be sort of a fun distraction, but instead I was just disappointed. You know that feeling of hunger before you try a new restaurant and the food turns out to be mediocre, but you are full? Well this is my best attempt to review this book. It seems like she is a good writer, but her talents are wasted.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Yeah....I hated it.
I think I might have made it through about 20 pages before I submitted a request for a refund via Kindle.
Published 1 month ago by April
3.0 out of 5 stars
Are You Ready to Network?
Everyone Worth Knowing is Lauren Weisberger's second novel. Is it as good as the first one?
Synopsis:
Bette Robinson has been slaving away at her job as an investment... Read more
Synopsis:
Bette Robinson has been slaving away at her job as an investment... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Writer's Corner
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Fun Read by Ms. Weisberger
This is the second time I've read this book and it's still my absolute favorite by Ms. Weisberger. I think all young girls who find being famous glamorous and the ultimate... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Angieleigh
2.0 out of 5 stars
Mixed feelings.
Bette Robinson has found herself in quite the predicament. A graduate of Emory University (ok, I am an alum and just had to say that), working a corporate job that isn't making her... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Michelle L. Beck
1.0 out of 5 stars
You've Read This
I enjoyed The Devil Wears Prada and also was on a 'big city chick lit' kick so I decided to pick this one up. UGH. Not good. Read more
Published 11 months ago by JAScribbles
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining!
A great quick, entertaining read! Well written and executed. Enjoyable. If your looking for something light and easy and fun, this is your book!
Published 12 months ago by CLR222
2.0 out of 5 stars
Flat
Boring. I got it from the library on CD and needed something for my commute or I wouldn't have finished it. Wish I didn't finish it. The end, in particular, was really dumb. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Andrea Elise
3.0 out of 5 stars
Leigh.C
This is probably my least favorite of all of Lauren Weisberger's novels. If I hadn't read all of her other novels I probably would have like it more; however, I held her to some... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Leigh.C
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love this book!
From a great writer, she tells the story of how quickly we can go from grounded to wrapped up in materialistic things. It's funny, truthful, an easy and funny read.
Published 14 months ago by Kristin
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Turning the Pages Review
You may also read my review here: [...]
I have never read The Devil Wears Prada, but I did see the movie and LOVED it so I was very excited about reading Everyone Worth... Read more
I have never read The Devil Wears Prada, but I did see the movie and LOVED it so I was very excited about reading Everyone Worth... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Turning the Pages
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