Customer Reviews

Lipstick Jungle

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

'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.'

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.

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.

I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the Bushnell works that have been converted into scripts and shot as TV programs. However, I feel like Ms. Bushnell would make a much better screenwriter than novelist at this point. I found that the basic story line of Lipstick Jungle didn't provide enough drive to make me eager to keep turning the pages. I muddled through as I was a huge fan of the TV show and wanted to see if there was a real ending (after the program was cancelled early due to low ratings). There wasn't and I was very disappointed.

In fact, the characters as written in the novel were actually quite unlikeable and I don't believe I would have finished the book at all had I not already been invested in the characters from watching the show. A real disappointment.

I have enjoyed the first two episodes of this show on TV, so I decided to read the book. I loved the characters and had a hard time putting it down. I wanted it to never end. Loved IT!

The makings of a good book, as far as I can tell, are interesting characters that experience growth, a quick moving plot, and a satisfying ending. The book is missing all three ingredients. The characters are coniving, un-likeable, and shallow. And the author continually beats the reader over the head with the fact that these women are "successful." B.S. These women are brats. The plot, well, there isn't one. Except to show just how self-absorbed and rotten these women can be, and to make the men in the book looks like imbeciles. The ending - well, I would have prefered to see the characters learn something and change and grow, not just wrap it up with each of them sneering about their "so-called" successes and counting the bodies they left in their wake. If you insist on reading something by this author try One Fifth, at least that book has a plot and a few interesting characters. Do not waste your time on Lipstick Jungle. And please, whatever you do, do not let the men in your life read this book, they may get the idea that all smart, successful women are as nasty as these characters, which they are not. Too bad Bushnell doesn't agree.

This book is entirely over-rated; other tomes by Bushnell, feature irritating characters and scenes that are reminders of how sad and grasping "high society" is, but this goes too far. Bushnell is a racist and has double standards: she coos over (pushy and rude)airport immigration just "doing their job", but some poor (obviously black) maintenance guy gets put in his place by some stuck up neurotic white cow. If her book had illustrations, I'm sure the Japanese would have been yellow-skinned, slant-eyed and buck-toothed dwarves. The plotlines are just implausible: co-dependent Wendy having a baby with Janie Wilcox's (supposedly sterile) ex-husband: this is supposed to be a happy ending? Do yourself a favour and give this book a miss.

This is a good book. The characters are interesting and the story flows very well. I hear they are making a TV series out of it and I am interested in seeing how well it translates to the screen. Candace Bushnell writes a good story and this is no exception.

I was really looking forward to reading this book. I am just about the biggest SATC fan on earth, so I figured I would fall in love with Lipstick Jungle as well. I thought there was no way I wouldn't like anything that involved girlfriends, shopping, cocktails, & fun (like SATC).. Some of my most loved things!
The book is a good read, well written, etc. But I was VERY disappointed in the general message. I find it extremely sad that Candace Bushnell views motherhood & marriage as such low priorities. Throughout this entire book I was waiting for the characters to finally realize that family & especially CHILDREN are always more important than financial success & "power". Unfortunately it never happened. These women are completely self-absorbed & shallow.
I quite admire women who can balance work & motherhood. In this book however, there is no balance. ALL these women care about are power, esteem, & money. Their husbands/boyfriends & children are of no importance.
I had a successful career before I became a mother, which I gladly postponed to stay home with my babies. I would NEVER in a million years consider my own power & ego more important than raising my beautiful children. Kids need to be raised by their parents, not by nannies & daycares.
Being a full-time mother absolutely does NOT mean a woman is a "failure" or inferior, as this book implies. Quite the opposite in fact, especially in the eyes of the ones who matter most.
Pretty disappointing for this SATC fan!!!
When I gave my husband my thoughts on this book, here was his reply.. "Sounds like it was written by a lonely, bitter woman who envies women who have what she doesn't. So she puts it down to make herself feel better." Maybe???

First, I must admit that I haven't had the pleasure of reading Sex and the City, so this is my first adventure with Candace Bushnell. I thoroughly enjoyed this book with three females as the center. I loved that each character was unique, but their friendships with each other were genuine and I could imagine how they became friends and why they stayed friends.

A story of their adventures in New York and the trials that women face. I absolutely adored how the women in this story were successful and powerful. It was interesting to read how the men in their life reacted to their successes. I enjoy reading books were the men are put into a different position and how the dynamics of the family must change due to the role reversals.

A great chick lit that made me want to continue reading Candace Bushnell. A must read for all chick lit fans.