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The Perfect Manhattan: A Novel [Hardcover]

Leanne Shear (Author), Tracey Toomey (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)

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Book Description

June 28, 2005
Meet Cassie Ellis—a young college graduate with the world on a string, a yen for screenwriting, and a need for fast cash to pay off her student loans. Eager to avoid the lucrative snooze-fest of a reliable consulting job, she shocks everyone she knows by opting for a sexier, more flexible job: mixing drinks. Never mind that she doesn’t know single-malt whiskey from Jack Daniel’s: she’s eager to learn. And under the tutelage of a sexy Soho bar owner, she’s soon cranking out three-olive martinis with the city’s glitterati fifteen-deep at the bar—all while angling for tips, fielding bad pick-up lines, and trying to keep up with the other bartenders who party as hard as their stylish clientele.

When Cassie accepts a summer gig bartending in the Hamptons, New York’s most elite summer destination, she finds herself catapulted into a whirlwind of dazzling celebrity and over-the-top wealth unlike anything she’s ever seen. Life behind the velvet rope is hard to resist, especially when she finds herself falling for a Hamptons hottie named James. But as the summer progresses, and she finds herself surrounded by playboys, moguls, spoiled rich kids, and Paris Hilton clones in strappy stilettos, she soon wonders if playing the ersatz socialite—while actually trying to make a living—is more than she bargained for.

Drawn from the authors’ own experiences as bartenders in the thick of New York’s party scene, The Perfect Manhattan is a perfect mix of sparkling social satire, romance, comedy, and scandal that provides a fast-paced, enormously entertaining look inside the life on the chichi side of the tracks.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In their attempt to titillate while criticizing the high life, bartender/writer Shear and bartender/actress Toomey shake an imperfect cocktail with this story of a sexy young mixologist's fabulous but sordid summer working in the Hamptons. After graduating from Columbia, aspiring writer Cassie tends bar at a posh SoHo watering hole, experience that lands her a summer spot at the front bar of Hamptons hot spot Spark. Cassie, who has blue collar roots, is quickly swept up in the scene: flirting for tips up to $1,000 and landing handsome trust-fund boyfriend James Richard Edmonton III. By Labor Day weekend, the frenetic socializing and spending hard-earned cash on designer dresses take a toll on the hopeful screenwriter. While the authors divulge interesting behind-the-bar secrets plus tidbits on how bartenders rip off bar owners, in fleshing out the Hamptons elite they resort to stale Lizzie Grubman and P. Diddy references and WASPy stereotypes. (Cassie dubs her romantic rivals, decked out in pastel cashmere sweater sets and pearls, the "Pearls Girls.") Add banal commentary on differences between old and nouveau riche to Cassie's ultimate disavowal of "selfish, shallow, boring people spending money," and this concoction's fizz goes flat.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Cassie Ellis has just graduated from Columbia University with a degree in creative writing. Unlike her classmates who are heading off to high-powered jobs at investment firms, Cassie isn't sure what the next step is. She wants a job that will allow her time to work on her screenplay, a Pygmalion/Pretty Woman hybrid called Glass Slipper. When she sees an ad for bartending school, Cassie decides to sign up. A chance meeting with bar owner Dan Finton leads to a job offer, but when she arrives to work, Cassie finds she has to prove herself to veteran bartender Billy and win over the customers. When the gig doesn't bring in the big bucks she was hoping for, she sets her sights on a more lucrative posting: a summer job in the Hamptons. N.Y.C and Hamptons bartenders Shear and Toomey know the world of which they write, and give readers a detailed glimpse into the steamy nightlife of the Big Apple and the summer hot spot. A perfect beach read. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 448 pages
  • Publisher: Broadway (June 28, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0767918495
  • ISBN-13: 978-0767918497
  • Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,462,985 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

51 Reviews
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4 star:
 (19)
3 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (51 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars So Much Fun to Read!, February 12, 2006
By 
This review is from: The Perfect Manhattan: A Novel (Hardcover)
Cassie Ellis is about to graduate from Columbia. A budding writer, Cassie really wants to work on her own screenplay, but she doesn't understand how she will be able to write it and work full-time at a job she knows she will hate. While perusing the newspaper, an opportunity presents itself: Cassie could go to bartending school. It would be perfect! She could write all day and then bartend at night. Her screenplay would be done in a snap!

Unfortunately, Cassie fails bartending school. She doesn't let that stop her, though. Cassie lands a bartending gig in a class SoHo pub. She mingles with enough of the "right" people to find out that if she truly wants to make some quick cash, she should bartend in the Hamptons for the summer weekends. In need of cash and a little excitement, Cassie finds a job at Spark, the trendiest place in the Hamptons, and soon finds herself hob-knobbing with stars and local millionnaires.

One of those local millionnaires is the object of Cassie's crush: James Edmonton III. Soon, they're having a whirlwind romance, but Cassie begins to wonder if James is truly interested in her or defying his father by seeing her. Nevermind that her screenplay is totally not being written and that Cassie is completely exhausted. Can Cassie accomplish her goals and get the guy, too?

This book was so much fun to read! The authors really captured the bartending environment and bring it to life on the page. Cassie is a great character, if a little hard to get to know. This book is a breath of fresh air to the chick lit genre. Though some of our favorite and familiar elements are there, "The Perfect Manhattan" takes a walk on the wildside, which is much needed!

I would absolutely recommend this book!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A lot of fun, September 26, 2005
This review is from: The Perfect Manhattan: A Novel (Hardcover)
I found this book to be a really fun read. I've never been to the Hamptons, but after reading The Perfect Manhattan, I have a clear mental image of what it must be like. The novel provides a lot of insight into the life of a bartender and the class issues that exist in the Hamptons. It's funny and easy to get through. Highly reccomended!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Just Can't Put it Down, October 7, 2005
By 
This review is from: The Perfect Manhattan: A Novel (Hardcover)
Great book, I have been in the restuarant/bar business for a couple of years and this book definitely hit all the areas of life in the summer. There is no time to play, sleep or have fun, but the stories and gossip that is heard makes up for it. Definitely passed this book on to my friends/co workers. Great Job... Fast easy to get through and did not want to put it down.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
An unruly pile of spiral-bound notebooks, final exam schedules, and dried-up highlighters were scattered across my sky-blue comforter as I stared intently at the ad in the Village Voice. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Pearls Girls, East Hampton, Baby Carmine, Dan Finton, James Edmonton, Montauk Highway, Animal House, Martin Pritchard, Range Rover, Martini Mike, Labor Day, Amanda Hearst, Burberry Plaid Man, Main Street, Blue Parrot, Bud Lights, Further Lane, Grey Goose, East End, Long Island, Memorial Day, Cassie Ellis, Ketel One, Pinot Noir
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