Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell, Updated Edition [Paperback]

Amy Sohn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 23, 2004

After six wildly successful and critically acclaimed season, HBO's Sex and the City lowered its curtain with an extraordinary finale befitting its remarkable run. Now Sex and the City, the first true comedy about sex and love from a female point of view (and the show that made cosmopolitans and designer shoes part of every single woman's night out), lives on in this luscious, uniquely entertaining, and one-of-a-kind book.

Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell, the official companion book, celebrates the show with behind-the-scenes stories on all six seasons and original interview with each of the primary actors. Ever wonder which designer made that outrageous outfit of Carrie's? What real-life stories inspired those shocking episodes? How many dates the fabulous foursome have really been on? Packed with over 750 full-color photographs, this stunning volume will answer all these questions and more with information not available anywhere eels. Topped off with a introduction by Sarah Jessica Parker, Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell will excite anyone who has experienced even the slightest flirtation with the sexiest, funniest show on television.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of a kind--crisp, witty, smart and wise...just keeps getting better."

About the Author

Amy Sohn is the author of the novels Prospect Park West, My Old Man and Run Catch Kiss. She has also written for New York, The New York Times, The Nation, and Harper's Bazaar. She has written television pilots for such networks as HBO, Fox, and ABC.  She lives in Brooklyn. Visit her at www.AmySohn.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books; Rev Upd edition (February 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743457307
• ISBN-13: 978-0743457309
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 11.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Amy's new novel, Motherland, will be published in August 2012 by Simon & Schuster. Beyond that . . .
In 1973 Amy was born in Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan. Raised in Brooklyn Heights, Amy went on to attend Hunter College High School in Manhattan, alma mater of Supreme Court justice Elena Kagan. In 1995 Amy was graduated from Brown University, Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude, and with Honors.
In 1995 Amy returned to Brooklyn to pursue a career as an actress. It didn't go well, though she did appear in an episode of "Law and Order" for forty seconds, an episode for which she still receives residuals. In 1996 she became a columnist at New York Press, writing her autobiographical "Female Trouble" column, a chronicle of dating below Fourteenth Street that elicited loads of invective from readers and shamed her parents at dinner parties. This column was satirized in a cartoon by Anthony Haden-Guest that featured a blond and brunette talking, with the brunette telling the blond, "I'm the new you." This was thought to be based on Amy and Candace Bushnell, though Anthony never admitted it outright.
In 1999, Simon & Schuster published Amy's first novel, Run Catch Kiss, which has since been translated into four languages. According to the New York Times review of the book, "A little-known event that took place around the time that Richard M. Nixon was resigning as President was the birth of Amy Sohn, who has emerged as a representative of her generation." The review included the word "concomitant," "concupiscence," and "Spenglerian," three words that do not appear in the novel.
In 1999 Amy became a columnist at the New York Post, where she enraged management by comparing Mayor Giuliani to Hitler and writing an expose on the Yankees locker room. In 2000, Amy co-created, wrote and starred in a television show for Oxygen's "X Chromosome" animated series entitled "Avenue Amy."
In August 2001 Amy landed at New York magazine. At New York, her columns mirrored the trajectory of her life, from "Naked City" to "Mating" to "Breeding." In 2004 Simon & Schuster published her second novel, My Old Man, about a May-December relationship between a rabbinical school dropout and an aging screenwriter. It took place in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.
In 2008 she became a columnist at England's Grazia magazine, where she wrote a column called "Diary of a Recessionista." The recession soon took over and the column was axed. Over the years, Amy has also written for Harper's Bazaar, Premiere, Playboy, Elle, The New York Times, and Details. She is a recipient of a reader award from Playboy called the Golden Bunny and was voted one of Park Slope's 100 most influential people. She is certain she is the only individual to have received both honors.
In 2009 Simon & Schuster published Amy's third novel, Prospect Park West, about four Park Slope mothers on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It was translated into five languages.
As a pundit on popular culture, she has appeared on such networks as VH1, MTV, Fox News, CNN, Lifetime, MSNBC, and PBS. She has written television pilots for ABC, Fox, Lifetime and most recently, HBO and Sarah Jessica Parker, who optioned Prospect Park West. She has written two films, a Gen X Big Chill called Spin the Bottle, and a Gen X horror film called Pagans.
She grew up in Brooklyn, where she still lives today. She has a brother, five years younger. She voted for Barack Obama and raised money for him. Her favorite writers are Laurie Colwin, Hilma Wolitzer, Charles Bukowski, Nathanael West, Mary Gaitskill, and Bruce Jay Friedman. Her favorite films include Gregory's Girl, The Landlord, The Apartment, My Life as a Dog, and Together.
She had her seventh birthday party at Kramer versus Kramer but not all the children were permitted by their parents to come. As a child she was taken to the films Heartland, Splash, Heart Like a Wheel, The Magical Mystery Tour, and Mr. Hulot's Holiday and is glad about it. She thinks Wainwright elevates Apatow and not the other way around. She has strong biceps but weak abs. She is aware that her inspiration for this list was the Kevin Costner speech in Bull Durham. She has had sexual fantasies about Richard Ford and they were productive.
If she could switch careers she would be a Broadway musical theater producer or a sommelier. She dresses to the left. She believes that when it comes to hair highlights, cheap is expensive. Her favorite joke is, "What's the difference between a Jew and a Gentile? A Gentile leaves without saying goodbye and a Jew says goodbye without leaving." She also enjoys a very tasteless Katharine Hepburn joke whose punchline is, "How do you turn it off?" Her favorite candy is York Peppermint Patties and she always has a knot in the same section of her hair when she wakes up. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.
Like her at www.facebook.com/amysohn and visit her at www.amysohn.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

157 of 180 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This book disappointed and angered me (a fan who really knows the show --a little too well), September 6, 2005

By 

Kris the Bookworm "Reading makes you smarter" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell, Updated Edition (Paperback)

As a huge SATC fan, I couldn't wait to get into this book. However, the more I read, the more I felt cheated. I'm not sure Amy Sohn has even watched the episodes more than once, and if you are going to write a guide to a popular show, you should be at least as familiar with the characters as its fans. What I find most annoying is the inaccurate and glib writing of the book. The women characters are summarized using broad, vague descriptions of their personalities (Samantha as wild and sexy, Miranda as stern and cynical, etc.)that you would find in a basic overview of the series--not in a supposedly in-depth book. All of the characters' personalities had depth, even from season one. Carrie is described in glowing words as "the best friend every girl wants and the girlfriend of every guy's dreams." Well, only if the guy wants a cheater (because, remember, she cheated on Aidan) and although Carrie would be fun to hang out with, I would rather have Miranda as a close friend. Carrie is often self-involved and oblivious to her friends' needs, whereas Miranda often listens to Carrie babble on and on about her problems even if she is she short on sleep, has a mother dying in the hospital, or is nauseous from morning-sickness. Big is romanticized as worldly, sophisticated, and driven. Which he was. But he was also emotionally distant, selfish, and a jerk. I'm really annoyed by the misrepresentations of the characters and some of the events in the series. Here are two things Sohn wrote that are especially galling (and outright wrong): 1. In the Big character description, Sohn writes that "...time and time again, Big was there for her when she needed him most--when she felt lonely, was strapped for money, or when everybody else let her down." I'd like some examples of that. Where was he in 5th season when Carrie said: "I'm lonely. The loneliness is palpable."? He loaned her money only once: 4th season, when she needed to buy her apt--and she ripped up the check anyway. Big was very important to Carrie, and to the show, but Sohn misrepresents him. 2. In the ludicrous, over-generalized wrap-up summaries to season 6, part 2, Sohn writes: "...when her (Steve's mom) alcoholism became apparent, Miranda took on the responsibility of his family, as well." What? Steve's mom, Mary, (a character overlooked in the book, and no mention of the wonderful actress who played her either)(Magda--both the character and actress--also ignored)had a stroke and it was severe enough that she couldn't live alone. There were hints that Mary liked her beer, but never was alcoholism suggested. If Sohn had checked her facts (HBO's SATC web site is still up)she wouldn't have written something so wrong. There are other examples like this, but these are the two that infuriated me the most. Many things are left out of this "updated" version. Sohn mentions how great season 3 was and how it attracted lots of guest stars. She mentions: Vince Vaughn, but neglects Carrie Fisher, who appeared in an episode with him. She mentions Sarah Michelle Gellar, but not Matthew McConaughey--again, they appeared in the same episode. And what about Hugh Hefner and the women's visit to the Playboy Mansion? The "Map" was something I specifically looked forward to, and it was a joke. She mentions that you can use it to take a walking tour of NYC to follow in the girls' footsteps, but while general locations of places are pointed out, there are no addresses! This is especially funny when you read this: "Note that businesses and addresses are circa 2002." One, I thought this was the "updated" book and two, there are no addresses EXCEPT for the girls' apartments--which are not real places anyway! Sohn couldn't take the time to give addresses for the real places for those of us who aren't NYC dwellers? What I liked about the book (the few things I did) were the lots and lots of pictures. And the fashion section is wonderful too. The interviews with the main/recurring characters (male and female) are good, although if the women could get bios, why couldn't the men? Sohn covers all aspects of the show by including sections about the writers, production, post-production, making the sets, etc. What she should have covered more was the music. The music in this show is very good and interesting and always adds depth and feeling to the scenes. She neglects this dimension of SATC and includes only a tiny paragraph music--and doesn't even name the person who puts the music together or give his title. She calls him "Lieberstein" and includes three quotes from him. The "Ripple Effect" section is good--although limited. Probably the show started other trends that aren't mentioned (in fact, on the season 6, part 2 dvd commentary, Michael Patrick King mentions that Burberry started a new accessory based on an item that SATC asked them to create). Also, Sohn implies that the Trey-Charlotte Scots-style marriage (Trey in a kilt) influenced Guy Ritchie to wear a kilt in his marriage with Madonna. However, anyone who has listened to the 3rd season dvd commentary (and if you haven't, do so--immediately!) knows that Michael Patrick King talked about that. They were worried it would be too weird (the kilt), but right about the time the marriage episode aired, Madonna married a kilted Guy R., so they were relieved. This "guide" to SATC would have been much improved by an indepth summary of each episode, instead of a paragraph. Plus, a list of guest stars/actors, the writer(s), director, and exec. producer for each episode would have been helpful too. Do you want to know who played Friar F**k in season 4, episode 1? Look it up on the internet or pull out the dvd because Sohn doesn't tell you. Also, this show received many awards and was nominated for many more. Is that information included ANYWHERE in this book? Nope. What an oversight. The behind the scenes "tidbits" are very short and really not that interesting. If you want really good behind the scenes info, listen to the dvd commentaries. They are really, really good. Overall, this is a poor excuse for a SATC book. Sohn doesn't appear to know the material as well as she should, and she leaves out lots of good information that should have been included. Her glib descriptions of the characters (men and women) make them seem more simple and uncomplicated than they were. Although she gives lip service to the idea that the characters changed and strengthened, she doesn't seem to understand what that means. This was a very good show that discussed real subjects and portrayed women and relationships fairly accurately (at least, more so than sitcoms on the network channels). This book is too inferior for the show, sort of like Wal-Mart trying to sell Manolo Blahniks.

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More than just summaries of episodes, March 15, 2005

By 

A reader (Rocky Mountains USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell, Updated Edition (Paperback)

Initially, I was reluctant to buy this book as I'd seen the series. Being such a SATC fan, I gave in and made the purchase. It was a pleasant surprise!

* The book contains interviews with the main characters; the four actresses, their leading men as well as Stanford, Anthony and Bunny. Main members of the production team also get their say, and there are several action shots of the production process.

* There are lots of photos of outfits worn by the four ladies. This is your chance to check out the fashion details!

* There is a double page spread of the guys (and the few women) who were romantic prospects for each of the leading ladies. If you look closely you see one or two guys who may be "repeats" (came as two different characters in two widely spaced episodes). I notice one omission, though. It was the preppy blond guy who walked in on Bunny confronting Charlotte in the living room. (Bunny remarked "you are missing a pair of pants, young man.")

* There is a map of the restaurants and other places were many of the on-location episodes were filmed.

Why only four stars? There are no details about part two of season six. If Sohn had waited until the end of the entire series, this book would have been a more complete wrap-up.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could have been better., August 29, 2005

By 

Philly (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell, Updated Edition (Paperback)

I purchased the older version (pink hardback) and loved it! I was very disappointed in this updated version. The last 8 episodes of Season 6 were barely mentioned. It's like they didn't watch or care about these final shows and just slapped a couple of lines at the end of the book to finalize it.