Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
... or you could just go and read the blog..., July 14, 2006
I found this book to be sexy, witty, charming and funny. It's an amusing and entertaining read, and gives you a glimpse of a lifestyle you probably know little about.
It's also taken, word for word, from her blog.
I started reading Belle's blog a few years ago and as I quickly got into it, I went back and read every entry from the beginning. This book is taken directly from the blog (minus a few "entries" in the book, and the Being a Call Girl from A to Z dealio at the beginning of each chapter). There is almost no new material, and what is new, is few and far between and not anything earthshattering.
Frankly, I was a little disappointed, being a devoted reader of her blog, to find out the book is just the blog, in hard copy. It for me was not worth what I paid for it, since I'd already read it for free, and can back and read it again, for free, anytime I want. Also, the blog has a lot more content, much of which is not in this book. She posts regularly.
I do recommend reading this book as it's delightful, but you may want to save yourself the $ and just read the blog. I think, personally, you get more out of it (since it's more comprehensive), and it's also current.
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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating book, August 30, 2005
Belle de Jour (http://belledejour-uk.blogspot.com/) rightly won the Guardian Weblog award for the best written blog of 2003, and went on to become a blog phenomenon. Having secured a reputed six-figure publishing deal, this book promises to become a similarly phenomenal literary sensation, and there are already plans make it into a film. The mystery surrounding the anonymity of the blog's author generated something of a media frenzy in the first quarter of 2004, with The Times in particular applying its investigative powers to the task of hunting down the author and exposing their identity. However, such attempts proved unsuccessful and Belle's publishers have somehow managed to retain their marketing ace, despite the circulation of numerous rumours regarding who Belle may or may not be. With the initial spate of interest mysteriously on the wane, and Belle's anonymity safely in tact, the British newspapers have become engrossed in another sex scandal involving a some time high-class call girl, the details of which could very easily pass for an episode straight from the pages of Belle's blog. Having initially struck a resounding chord with her first-hand appreciation of the reality lurking beneath the surface of contemporary sexual mores, Belle now seems perfectly positioned as the definitive commentator of the post-Sex and the city/Bridget Jones zeitgeist. Couple this with a wit, intellect and honesty lacking in much contemporary British fiction, and Belle de Jour rightly deserves to become the British literary scene's equivalent of Michel Houellebecq. For a fuller account of the unfolding of the Belle de Jour phenomenon visit The Book Club Blog (http://natural-creations.co.uk/bookclub.html) for a full history and all the latest news and analysis on all things Belle.
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Voyeurism of the banal..., November 25, 2005
The problem with Belle de Jour is that once you get past the initial voyeurism, there's no real substance. Belle's day to day life simply isn't that interesting. The book is mostly witty, only occassionaly introspective, and sometimes tedious, but always unprentenious and honest.
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