Customer Reviews

Falling Out of Fashion (Little Black Dress)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Although Karen Yampolsky purports to have written this book, it's clear to anyone with a good memory of Sassy and/or Jane that this is the (very thinly veiled) story of Jane Pratt herself as told to Ms. Yampolsky.

The book is very simply written and thus easy to read. It doesn't really have much narrative pull, as it's basically just Jane yammering I did this, then I did that. It's not really fiction so much as it is a blog-like memoir. Jane's obviously quite impressed with her star-studded life and has very little self-awareness of how she might appear to others. She constantly talks about how Jane was this groundbreaking women's magazine that was ruined by moving to a new publishing house, but most women I know thought Jane kind of sucked from the very beginning. Jane is desperate to establish her indie cred, but it falls flat: for example, she runs down the "cheesy reality-tv winner" "Katy Hanson" (Kelly Clarkson), instead championing such slebs as "Serena Sax" (Courteney Cox). Her characters are sketched in the broadest of one-dimensional strokes and the celebrity pseudonyms are unbelievably easy to guess. Anyone in-the-know will immediately recognize "Richard Ruiz" as Michael Stipe, Drew Barrymore as a bisexual, curiously African-American (?) recovering addict who Jane makes out with at a party, and so forth. I gave this book 2 stars because some of the gossip is quite juicy once you get past the aliases.

For fans of Jane/Sassy, this might wile away an hour or so. For chicklit fans, the bar is already so low in this genre that I can't say this is much worse than most of what's out there, but compared to good chicklit like Marion Keyes, this is dreck. It's certainly no Devil Wears Prada, which, while not brilliantly written, was sparkling, entertaining pop trash. This is not.

I truly enjoyed this book. So much so that apparently I read it in two days! I got so caught up in it that I was enjoying myself as the pages just flew by. This book has just enough parallelism to real events (the real life magazine Sassy is relabeled Cheeky, etc)that is believable and entertaining. If you enjoyed books like The Devil Wears Prada, Everyone Worth Knowing, or Celebutantes, you will like this book. It offers insight into the world of publishing that most of us are not aware of, but honestly many of the antics will ring true to anyone who's had a boss from hell, snarky coworker, or a colleague that tries to take credit for your work. If you want a nice, fun book for the pool or beach, this is a great choice. Same for passing time at an airport. If you want a book with alot of action, suspense, drama, or inspirational message, you will walk away disappointed. Also, I can't imagine it would appeal to the average man.

While I won't say this is a great book, I did find it to be quite entertaining. It didn't have the humor or snap of The Devil Wears Prada or some others of the same genre, but Yampolsky did a good job of creating mostly believable characters with a storyline that rang true, as well. This may not be the best book she ever writes, but I think it's proof that Karen Yampolsky is an author to look out for.

I picked this up with some fear. Most chick lit these days feels as though it was just written and rushed off to press. I miss the days of the goold old 'a la Bridget Jones chick lit'.

Imagine my surprise when I started reading this book. In an instant, I feel in love with the character, the storyline and the writing.

This is SMART chick lit. No snivelling, wanting to absolutely get married main character here. This girl is smart and the storyline is written in a clever, non whiny way.

I loved the descriptions of the insider going ons of a magazine, the main character is flawed but still came out highly engaging.

No whiny people need apply.

LOVED IT.

Growing up on a rural Georgia commune, Jill White first left home as a teenager to attend prep school in New England. Realizing early on that she stuck out like a sore thumb, and that the privileged rich kids at her school had no intention of helping her fit in, Jill decided to attend a more liberal college, where she finally made friends. After school, Jill moved to New York where she entered the world of publishing as a lowly editorial assistant at a financial magazine. Still, at 24 she became the editor-in-chief of a publication targeted at teen girls called Cheeky (ie, rocker girl power mag Sassy). Cheeky was designed to be a refuge for girls who were not like those in the pages of Seventeen and YM. Cheeky girls embrace their independence and individuality, they celebrate difference, and don't necessarily feel the need to fit into a cookie-cutter image. When Cheeky folded, Jill used her media connections to form Jill Magazine, a similar publication aimed at 20-something women rather than teens. Whereas Cosmo might suggest losing weight, Jill would celebrate food and include recipes filled with rich ingredients--and no mention of a calorie count. Where Glamour might suggest how to keep your man happy, Jill would tell you how to lose that loser and find inner happiness.

By the time readers meet the present-day Jill White, she's a media darling who seems to have it all. She's married to the man of her dreams, an off-Broadway playwright who supports all of her endeavors and with whom she's hoping to start a family; she runs a successful magazine that bears her name; and she has the social and industry connections that helped her to be called a "media wunderkind" by Time magazine at the tender age of 24. Jill is a woman with ambition, brains, and the drive to use both to make a name for herself and create a niche publication unlike any other on the market. But when her magazine's parent company is bought by a media giant, the new management starts to press their ideas on Jill's magazine and to change the publication that she created. Eventually Jill has to decide whether the stress of trying to salvage what's left of her baby is worth the sacrifice of her marriage, her future career options, and her own sanity...

At a time when tell-all novels are all the rage, Falling Out of Fashion is a breath of fresh air. Karen Yampolsky served as an assistant for magazine editor Jane Pratt for 9 years, and while the story of the assistant who goes on to pen the tell-all is nothing new, Yampolsky's writing style and the flair with which she pulls off this novel is. Yampolsky writes with an edge that is entertaining, fun to read, and actually worthwhile rather than just dishing on a life that many of us will never have the opportunity to see. Unlike its competition (eg, The Devil Wears Prada, Because She Can), Falling Out of Fashion portrays a heroine who is likeable, ambitious, and might actually be someone who girls and women alike can aspire to be like and admire rather than the girl who changes to fit in and later realizes she should have been true to herself. And, for those who read these books strictly for the thinly veiled celebrity gossip, Yampolsky's got that end covered as well. If you read closely enough, you should recognize Drew Barrymore, Kate Moss, Pamela Anderson, JFK Jr, and Michael Stipe, just to name a few. Other than that, pick up Falling Out of Fashion because, in an oversaturated market, this book is at the top of its game.

This book is a smart, engaging look into the exciting but sometimes backstabbing magazine world, and a fun way to experience vicariously the kind of real-life "wunderkind" career Jane Pratt, the real person on whom the book is based, had.

One of the things I enjoyed most about the book was how "Jill," the main character in the novel, reconciled her country-educated-but-poor-hippie roots with the prep school and elite world she entered as a teen and adult. I also like how she grapples with her on-again off-again relationship with her best friend, Sarah, which teeters under the weight of her big career.

My only nit to pick with the book is Jill comes off as a little too superhuman in the book, with very few flaws and a few other aspects of her life a little too perfect, without giving too much away. There are some struggles in there, but the two preppy "ice queen" villainesses in the mag world are also a bit one-dimensional. Still, it's a great escape and a wonderful summer read.

This book so badly wants to grab the success that The Devil Wears Prada got, but it won't.

The jump from present to past to present was disjointed and could be confusing. The main character was too good to be true, even when screwing over her friends, who randomly forgive her. I thought it was interesting how "Jill's" assistant was the most perfect person in the book who could do no wrong- a character based on the author herself.

Even for so-called "chick lit," this was insulting to readers' intelligence. The "villians" of the novel were caracatures of the ice queens seen in movies. We're supposed to feel sorry for Jill, since she started out with no friends, but about the time she's ignoring her best friend for the hundredth time, that sympathy is basically gone.

The only reason I'm giving it 2 is because it involves Jane magazine, which is a favorite of mine and which I'm sad to see go.

This author needs to go back to sucking up and being someone's assistant/occasional editor.

This isn't so much as a novel as a case study in how NOT to write a novel. Only read it if you enjoy heavy-handed exposition that exemplifies "tell, not show," clunky prose and one dimensional characters. It gets one star for its barely veiled celebrity gossip - now years out of date - and I'm being generous. By comparison, other roman-a-clef novels, such as The Devil Wears Prada, read like high literature. It's a pity, because Jane Pratt - whose life this novel sluggishly details - edited some of the most interesting, outrageous magazines around. She deserves better.

The first chapter was engaging, and I thought I was set up for an interesting ride. After that, though, it becomes one long, linear narrative. Not much drama. It was somewhat interesting to me, my having worked in the media business, so I stuck with it, but in the end I was delighted to have reached the end.

Funny, touching, and engaging--This is a true story of the challenges of fashion journalism. It's a great read! Not only is it entertaining, but there are lessons to be learned from the challenges faced by the main character and her resilience and courage in response to them. Very good book!