Customer Reviews

Everyone Worth Knowing

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(52)
3 star:		(42)
2 star:		(46)
1 star:		(55)

 

 

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...

"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.

This book diappointed me. It had the same, predictable plot as The Devil Wears Prada, and the same poor-me-I've-got-a-terrible-boss theme. It gets old very, very quickly.

Bettina (or "Bette") Robinson is a young twenty-something living in New York. She grew up in Pughkeepsie with liberal, hippie parents and attended Emory before moving to New York to pursue a career in investment banking. She walks out on the job; and through her uncle Will, manages to find a job working as a party planner.

Throw in a handsome, debonair man-about-town who everyone thinks Bette is dating; some co-workers who I think were meant to be funny but just end up looking pathetic; and a love interest, and you've basically got the gist of this poorly-written, over-advertised novel. This is definitely one "not worth knowing."

Well, if you liked Weisberger's first novel, the Devil wears Prada, don't waste your time. You'll find the same basic story line, the clueless-to-this-metier girl who devotes all her time and personal life to a job that is described as fruitless and pointless and which she holds in complete disdain. The missing ingredient is the jaw-dropping central figure, her incredibly bitchy boss from 'Prada,' so the book is just boring at best. Actually, this second novel is a disfavor to 'Prada' for it underlines how little Weisberger contributed to the creation of characters or plot or anything in her first novel, which everyone knows to be autobiographical. Weisberger was just lucky to have an incredible figure to write about and her only merit is to not have that opportunity lie unexploited. Everyone Worth Knowing is just a pitiful attempt at pursuing a career in writing; Weisberger appears to be as clueless in this as her characters in their careers. NB please notify Ms. Weisberger that investment bankers do not manage client's money, that's the private bankers' job. Also, it would be extremely rare to find a successful investment banker in NYC that does not know what Hermès is. (The least she could have done is some basic research, don't you think?)

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.

I loved "The Devil Wears Prada" and I definitely consider it as a pinnacle of the unfortunately biased titled genre "womens literature". Mabye thats why I found Weisberger's newest novel, "Everyone Worth Knowing" dissapointing at best. If you dont mind recycled characters or tired and predictable plotlines this book might be acceptable. The main character literally began and ended the novel sitting on her couch. Character development, bah, who needs it! At least the cartoonish co-workers caused a lot of intersting plot-development. Oh wait, no . . . they didnt. I kept reading hoping for some smashingly good confrontation but it never happened. At least Weisberger included the requisite older, sassy mentor, this time embodied by an aging gay uncle rather than the usual bohemian grandmother we normally see in this genre. Want to read a book that takes peek into the upper class? I reccomend picking up "Rebecca" or "Pride and Predjudice" instead. At least they take place somewhere other than New York.

I read and (mostly) enjoyed "The Devil Wears Prada." While I wasn't convinced TDWP was well-written, it had a fantastic villianess that kept me glued to the book, page after page. However, Weisberger's newest effort, "Everyone Worth Knowing," is bland. Top that off with bad writing, characters the reader doesn't care about, and a set-up and ending seen in the very first chapter, makes this book a definite pass.

Weisberger has potential as a writer. Unfortunately, she's nowhere near delivering the goods in this book. Get another book instead, or if you must read this one, get it from the library. It's not worth paying money for... and it's not really worth investing the time into reading, either.

I got an advance copy of this book and, simply put, it is awful. When I see these reviews that say it is a "guilty pleasure" or "fans won't be disappointed" I do not have the faintest idea how they come to those conclusions. And I have no reason to dis this woman. If anything, I sympathize with her because a lot of people will knock this book just because...I say, Her first book did well and good for her. But that book had a great character, Anna Wintour aka Miranda Priestly. She WAS the first book. This one reads like the DWP without Miranda! I culd only get through half because there is absolutely no characterization in this book. It is "she was mean", "she was pretty", "he is a snob" type writing. It reads like a college paper written the night before it was due. First rule of writing:show, don't tell. How about you paint a picture? How about you let me see through their actions just what kind of person they are? What galls me most about books of this sort is that the "it people" of New York are presented as people "regular folk" should give a damn about. Bette gets a job working with a coven of PR girls, in whose machinations she so naively gets entangled, but they aren't even women you can love to hate. They are just flat, vapid characters that you wish she'd push into the Hudson River weighted down with cement boots. As with the main character of DWP, Bette is another young woman who annoyingly expects to have everything she wants just because she wants it --without doing the work. Just like Ms. Weisberger.

Buy Lipstick Jungle instead or the very funny "The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives".

Let me say, I tried to read The Devil Wears Prada when that came out and couldn't get into it. I thought, give this author another try. So I did. I got about half way through the book and decided to drop it. I just couldn't get into the whole celebrity scene with rich snobby people who think a $20,000 purse is actually worth it.

Fortunetly, I got this from the library and didn't waste any money on purchasing this hardcover.

When I heard that Weisberger was coming out with a new novel, I was so extremely excited. I had loved Devil Wears Prada and I assumed her to once again produce something witty, insightful, and fluffy to read on the weekend. I was horribly, horribly WRONG.

Not only does this book lack characters about who you actually care, but its plot is so insanely hard to believe. Sure Weisberger had to do smething to make Everyone Worth Knowing different from all the other- naive 20 something girl tries cut-throat profession stories, but please....

This book was painful and I ended up skipping chapters because I really didn't care what happened in them.