Summer and the City: A Carrie Diaries Novel [Hardcover]

Candace Bushnell (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 26, 2011 | Series: Carrie Diaries

Meet teenage Carrie Bradshaw as she hits the bright lights, big city of New York for the very first time! Find out how Carrie transforms from country girl to super-cool fashionista in the second explosive CARRIE DIARIES novel from the globally bestselling author of SEX AND THE CITY. Summer is a magical time in New York City and Carrie is in love with all of it - the crazy characters in her neighbourhood, the vintage-clothing boutiques, the wild parties and the glamorous man who has swept her off her feet. Best of all, she's finally in a real writing class, taking her first steps toward fulfilling her dream. This sequel to THE CARRIE DIARIES brings surprising revelations as Carrie learns to navigate her way around the Big Apple, going from being a country "sparrow" - as Samantha Jones dubs her - to the person she always wanted to be. But as it becomes increasingly difficult to reconcile her past with her future, Carrie realises that making it in New York is much more complicated than she ever imagined. With her signature wit and sparkling humour, Candace Bushnell reveals the irresistible story of how Carrie met Samantha and Miranda, and what turned a small-town girl into one of the New York City's most unforgettable icons, Carrie Bradshaw.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Product Description
Summer is a magical time in New York City and Carrie is in love with all of it—the crazy characters in her neighborhood, the vintage-clothing boutiques, the wild parties, and the glamorous man who has swept her off her feet. Best of all, she's finally in a real writing class, taking her first steps toward fulfilling her dream.

This sequel to The Carrie Diaries brings surprising revelations as Carrie learns to navigate her way around the Big Apple, going from being a country "sparrow"—as Samantha Jones dubs her—to the person she always wanted to be. But as it becomes increasingly difficult to reconcile her past with her future, Carrie realizes that making it in New York is much more complicated than she ever imagined.

With her signature wit and sparkling humor, Candace Bushnell reveals the irresistible story of how Carrie met Samantha and Miranda, and what turned a small-town girl into one of New York City's most unforgettable icons, Carrie Bradshaw.

---

Carrie Bradshaw's 1980s Playlist

In honor of the publication of Summer and the City, author Candace Bushnell shares the tunes that Carrie skipped around town to in this exclusive playlist.

---

A Look Inside Summer and the City
(Click on Images to Enlarge)

Carrie Bradshaw’s Guide to the Real New York City.	The Rules according to Miranda Hobbs.	Samantha Jones’s Top Ten Tips for City Girls.

---

Review

“If ever a book resounded with positive messages for young people, it’s this one.” (USA Today )

“Fans of the franchise will want to learn more of Carrie’s coming-of-age experiences and will appreciate the sly wit that sometimes shines through-repartee at parties is occasionally priceless; others might enjoy imagining themselves in Carrie’s freewheeling demi-adult world. ” (Kirkus Reviews )

“The 1980s Manhattan setting is vividly realized, while Carrie’s friendships, doubts, joys, and truisms are relatable and revealing for teens and recognizable for adults. Both audiences will flock to this installment, like Carrie to Chanel.” (ALA Booklist )

“While this book clearly has a built-in audience of adult readers and older teens who are fans of the show and Bushnell’s adult books, there’s also something here for anyone who has ever wished to build a fabulous new life and, especially, for aspiring writers.” (School Library Journal )

“‘Summer and the City’ is Grade-A chick lit from one of its masters.” (Los Angeles Times )

“An enjoyable romp of a read.” (Entertainment Weekly )

Praise for THE CARRIE DIARIES: “Carrie’s sharp observations of her peers and human relationships give the book smart, sassy intellectual power.” (Kirkus Reviews )

Praise for THE CARRIE DIARIES: “With wit and insight, Carrie chronicles her emotionally charged senior year at a small Connecticut high school.” (Publishers Weekly )

Praise for THE CARRIE DIARIES: “An addictive, ingenious origin story.” (Los Angeles Times )

Praise for THE CARRIE DIARIES: “Fans will love this.” (Booklist )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Balzer + Bray; First Edition edition (April 26, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061728934
• ISBN-13: 978-0061728938
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #132,433 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

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Read for the Summer Season April 26, 2011

By Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf

Format:Hardcover

*4.5*

After the scandalous and juicy The Carrie Diaries, I was eager to re-enter Carrie's life as she made her way in New York. Therefore, when Summer and the City appeared in my mailbox, I was excited beyond words. Thankfully, Summer and the City was even better than The Carrie Diaries.

Summer and the City begins just a day after The Carrie Diaries ended. Even though Carrie's welcome into the city was everything but warm, she's excited to start her summer there in style, and as it begins, everything is simply fantastic. She's meeting real, live writers she can't help but admire and love; she's making the friends she always wished she had; and she's accomplshing great progress in her writing class. Better yet, this summer has also turned out to be one full of possible romance. Carrie is quite possibly having the time of her life. However, after a visit from a past friend and reunion with her family, she's beginning to wonder if she can ever go back to being plain old, prior- New York City Carrie. Faced with plenty of questions, Carrie wonders if she will ever figure them all out. More importantly, when given the chance to stay in New York, will she leave or go? Only more time and pages can tell!

In this addition, Carrie truly steps up her game, becoming not only an empowering and headstrong young woman, but someone I also could not help but relate to and root for as she makes her dreams come true. What I love most about her character, though, is that she is real. She has the same worries and questions about life and love and friendship just like any person has, and more importantly, she accumulates her own fair share of problems as this novel continues. Better yet, I adored the friendships she made in this one with hilarious and scandals Samantha as well as feminist, mouthy, yet lovable Miranda. Both friendships played an important role in not only Carrie's coming to age but also making this novel the great and enjoyable thing it was.

The plot in this was also a high point. Full of twists, turns, and swoon-worthy male characters, there was not a moment where I wasn't dying to know what would happen next to Carrie and her friends. Romance also played an important part- a part I enjoyed and loved, because it also caused suspense, as I wondered whom Carrie would end up with. Better yet, Candace Bushnell's also stepped it up a bit with her writing, as she truly brought the characters and the setting off the page and to life with this one.

Full of secrets, romance, and characters you cannot help but love, Summer and the City will leave nearly any fan of Carrie's begging for yet another addition to this series.

Highly recommended to say the least...

Grade: A+

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect read for die hard fans April 29, 2011

By A. Parras

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I wasn't too thrilled with The Carrie DIaries so when I got this book in the mail I wasn't too sure how great it would be. However, no matter what, I would appreciate the fact that it was just another story of "the girls".

THIS BOOK IS AMAZING. For any die hard fan of SATC, this book just flowed beautifully. I couldn't put it down and finished it in 2 days. I highly recommend it...it might actually cleanse your body of the horror that was SATC 2 (the movie).

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars LOVED IT! May 16, 2011

By GlockGirl

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you are a fan of SATC you have to read this book. While I enjoyed The Carrie Diaries, I LOVED this installment so much better. It picks up from the last book, and it is where she first meets Samantha Jones and eventually Miranda Hobbes & Capote Duncan. Who also plays a big role in this book. (As most of the SATC fans already know, Capote is in the very first episode of the TV series). There are definitely quite a few surprises in this book, and it is tons of fun to see who Samantha, Miranda and Carrie were as young women (Carrie is only 18 here). The back story gives a lot of insight into why the characters we fans know and love behave the way they do and it also introduces Charlotte towards the end. This is a fresh take on Carrie & all the girls and how they became so close. I loved every word of it, and can't wait for the next book now!

Summer and the City: A Carrie Diaries Novel