Lipstick Jungle [Mass Market Paperback]

Candace Bushnell (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 1, 2007

LIPSTICK JUNGLE weaves the stories of Nico O'Neilly, Wendy Healy, and Victory Ford, numbers 8, 12, and 17 on The New York Post's list of "New York's 50 Most Powerful Women." But this is 21st Century New York, and to get ahead and stay ahead, these women will do anything, including jeopardizing their personal and professional relationships. Take for example Nico, editor-in-chief of Bonfire magazine, who betrays her boss to rise to the top of the entire magazine division at media mega-giant Splatch-Verner. As president of Paradour Pictures, Wendy may be poised to win an Oscar for her 10-year labor-of-love, RAGGED PILGRIMS, but her marriage is in shambles and her children care more about a $50,000 pony than their mother. And for single, 43-year-old fashion designer Victory, pleasing tough critics may be more important than ever finding the real relationship she's convinced herself she doesn't need.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Candace Bushnell is the author of Sex and the City, Four Blondes, and Trading Up. She has been a columnist for The New York Observer and a contributing editor to Vogue.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (April 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786893966
• ISBN-13: 978-0786893966
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.5 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #450,874 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Candace Bushnell is the critically acclaimed, international best-selling novelist whose first book, Sex and the City, published in 1996, was the basis for the HBO hit series. Bushnell captured the country's attention with Sex and the City by breaking down the bedroom doors of New York City's rich and beautiful to expose true contemporary stories of sex, love and relationships. The book introduced the nation to "modelizers," "toxic bachelors" and the women who are looking for Mr. Big as they glide in and out of a star-studded social scene. With Four Blondes (2000), Bushnell gave readers another uncensored look into the mating rituals of the Manhattan elite. In each of this book's four linked novellas, Bushnell uses wry humor and frank portrayals of love and lust to deliver clever, hilarious and socially relevant portraits of women in New York City. Four Blondes was a critical and commercial hit. And the successes of Sex and the City and Four Blondes created high demand for a new genre of fiction; the chick-lit phenomenon had begun. Bushnell's third novel, Trading Up (2003) is a wickedly funny social satire about a lingerie model whose reach exceeds her grasp and whose new-found celebrity has gone to her head. The book takes place in the months leading up to 9/11, and portrays an era of wearily decadent society in New York. A sharply observant, keenly funny comedy of manners Trading Up is Bushnell at her most sassy and entertaining; this novel caused the The New York Times to call Bushnell "the philosopher queen of a social scene." A movie of Trading Up is currently in production at Lifetime Television. In Lipstick Jungle (2005), her fourth novel, Bushnell explores assumptions about gender roles in family and career. The book follows three high-powered friends as they weather the ups and downs of lives lived at the top of their game. Salon called Bushnell's work "ahead of the curve" Once again, with Lipstick Jungle, Bushnell captured the paradigm of a new breed of career woman facing modern challenges and choices. Lipstick Jungle became the basis for the popular drama on NBC, currently in its second season, and starring Brooke Shields, Kim Raver, Lindsay Price and Andrew McCarthy. Bushnell serves as an executive producer on the show. Bushnell's new novel, One Fifth Avenue, is a modern-day story of old and new money, the always combustible mix that Edith Wharton mastered in her novels about New York's Gilded Age and that F. Scott Fitzgerald illuminated in his Jazz Age tales. Bushnell's New Yorkers suffer the same passions as those fictional Manhattanites from eras past: thirst for power, for social prominence, and for marriages that are successful-at least to the public eye. "Here are bloggers and bullies, misfits and misanthropes, dear hearts and black hearts, dogfights and catty squalls spun into a darkly humorous chick-lit saga," says Publisher's Weekly. Through her books and television series, Bushnell's work has influenced and defined two generations of women. She is the winner of the 2006 Matrix Award for books (other winners include Joan Didion and Amy Tan), and a recipient of the Albert Einstein Spirit of Achievement Award. Bushnell grew up in Connecticut and attended Rice University and New York University. She currently resides in Manhattan.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Candace Bushnell's Best Work February 13, 2008

By TV Critic

Format:Mass Market Paperback

'Sex and the City' may be her crowning glory, but 'Lipstick Jungle' is definitely her best work. I'm a fan of Candace Bushnell and her writing style. 'Sex and the City' was a great first outing to get the public familiar with her style, 'Four Blondes' was a fun collection of short stories that showed Bushnell's growth as a writer. It's 'Lipstick Jungle' that cements her status as a great storyteller of New York City. The book focuses on the careers and love lives of three friends. While their love lives make for interesting storylines, it's their careers that are the most entertaining in this book.
I enjoyed how each woman has a very different, yet equally glamorous career. Victory struggles to put her fashion business back on top following a horrible spring fashion show. Nico fights to being the head of the magazine division of the company she works for. Then there is Wendy who is the head of a movie company and struggles to get her film made.
Of the three women, I find Nico's fight to the top to be the most compelling story in terms of their careers. In their love lives, Wendy shines as a mother and wife who realizes that even though she has a high powered career, she's looked at as a failure for not being the perfect homemaker she thinks she needs to be. Victory's love life has it's moment's but isn't nearly as interesting as Wendy's or as spicy as the affair Nico has with a young model.
What is great about Bushnell's novel is that even though they are characters living lives of the ultra-rich and famous, they are still relatable. She writes her characters to the point where they seem just as real as you and me.
I highly recommend 'Lipstick Jungle' especially for those who are a fan of 'Sex and the City.'

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly good June 10, 2008

By Melissa Niksic VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you're in the mood for solid chick-lit entertainment, then "Lipstick Jungle" is for you. This is the second book by Candace Bushnell that I've read (the other being "Sex and the City"), and it's definitely the better of the two. "Lipstick Jungle" chronicles the lives of three highly successful, 40-something women who are living the high life in New York City. The group is comprised of Victory, a fashion designer on the brink of big-time success; Nico, a magazine editor aspiring to take over her boss's job; and Wendy, a movie producer looking to add a few more Oscars to her mantle. Each woman struggles with balancing her personal and professional life, and of course there are plenty of romantic entanglements. I probably would give the book a higher rating if not for the fact that 99% of everything that happens to these women is completely unrealistic, and that the ending feels very rushed and leaves a bit to be desired. Still, I enjoyed the book. It was a quick read and it held my attention the entire time. Hopefully Bushnell's next book will be even better.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Better then the TV Show!! April 23, 2008

By Jenni Dee

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I am going to be honest. I bought this book strictly because I absolutely loved the TV show based on the book. I had never read anything by Candace and I felt that since I was familiar with the story I would enjoy this book. Well the book is even better then the TV show. There is more development and there are more concepts that were not addressed in the TV show. Overall this was a great book and I am definitely now a Candace Bushnell fan. If you enjoyed the TV show then you will definitely enjoy this. If you have never seen the TV show then you will still enjoy this book.