Customer Reviews

The Twins of Tribeca: A Novel

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Twins of Tribeca centers on Karen Jacobs, a bored fact-checker at CNN longing for a more interesting career. She gets it when she gets a job in the publicity department at Glorious, a motion picture company. The author, Rachel Pine, is a former publicist from Miramax, so it is extremely obvious who the inspiration for the Waxman borthers are. But the book is light a fun, and it's nice to see a chick-lit workplace book that doesn't take place in publishing! The movie business is something that is familiar to most anyone.

Karen has no idea just how nuts her co-workers are when she starts, including a boss who has imaginary telephone calls with Oprah, a co-worker who is obsessed with a young Glorious starlet (clerarly modeled after Gwyneth Paltrow) and the other co-workers, who fight tooth and nail to impress the Waxmans and will do anything to look important and superior to their co-workers. Funny tidbits about the craziness of movie stars and celebrities are also included, including their crazy demands and diva behavior.

Very little of the book centers on Karen's personal life, it is mostly about her job. This isn't really a bad thing. And one refreshing thing about the book is that throughout, although it is apparent that everyone around her is bonkers, Karen never seems to complain endlessly about the job much either. It's an interesting inside look at a production company from an author who knows.

The writing is also pretty good, a lot better than other authors in the genre. It's fun to guess who all of the characters and movies are supposed to be- look at a list of the movies Miramax released in 1996 and you'll see VERY similar ones here- The English Patient, Sling Blade, The Crow 2, The Pallbearer, Everyone Says I Love You, etc.

Overall, this is a fun and enjoyable read, and the fact it doesn't have a very clear plot doesn't hurt the book too much, because it is too much fun for the reader to really care! Definately recommended. Also note, the audiobook is read by Ana Gasteyer from SNL and she does a great job!

Twins of Tribeca was absolutely solid entertainment. I read alot of different types of books--non fiction, schmaltzy fiction, serious fiction, you name it. But TOT really stood out. It's absolutely hilarious, has a heroine whose truly likable, and has some quite unforgettable characters. The book is an expose, filled with what I'm sure are both half-truths and full-truths, about Miramax during the 1997-1999 period. These were the years when the English Patient put Miramax on the map and Gwyneth Paltrow became the Weinstein brothers' darling, culminating in her Shakespeare in Love Oscar. I'm not a movie buff but it's really fun to try to figure out which movies and actors are being alluded to in the book. I thought it was just the right bit of scandalously funny. But even if you don't know anything about movies, it's still a really entertaining book. The descriptions of our poor heroine's insane work life and the three colorful execs (Allegra, Marlene, and Vivian) are priceless. Some have accused this book as being standard chick lit. Yeah, it's probably much more likely a woman would enjoy this book (except for big movie buffs) but it's definitely not standard and I whole-heartedly recommend this to anyone looking for a good entertaining read.

There is nothing like a breathtakingly good book that simply will not let you put it down, regardless of what time you have to get up the next morning. Even better is when it is a debut novel. I found "Twins of Tribeca" by Rachel Pine to be such a novel. It was so good, so gossipy, so dishy, and so well-written that I simply had no choice but to finish the book in one read.

Bored with her job at CNN, Karen Jacobs (our main heroine) jumps at the chance to work in the publicity department for Glorious Productions. Despite having heard terrible rumors about the working conditions there, she manages to get hired on as a junior publicist - assistant to the infamous Allegra Orecchi.

Karen realizes pretty quickly that she may be in over her head. The elusive Allegra is rarely around, and when she is, she isn't the most pleasant person to deal with. Dagney, Allegra's other assistant, seems OK at first, but soon starts acting like she is jealous of Karen and is about to have a nervous breakdown. Then there is the whole backstabbing issue: it seems all the top people in the department hate each other and will stop at nothing to tear one another down. Karen realizes that she is in the middle of it all - which is not a good place to be.

While in the midst of juggling her 12-hour work days, Karen has to try not to get too cozy with a Page Six editor who could send all of her hard work tumbling down around her.

This book was an enormously interesting read. Filled with studio moguls, harried assistants, glitz, glamour, and backstabbing, I couldn't have asked for a better novel. It was a well-written, highly engaging story with a great main heroine and plenty of other intriguing characters. The book's setting goes from the Tribeca area in Manhattan to the red carpet and movie premieres in Hollywood- all without losing pace. There are also a lot of interesting details about the ins and outs of movie studios, publicity, and much more.

There is very little about Karen's personal life thrown into the story, as it is mostly centered around her job. But the author does a great job of tying everything up neatly at the end - with no lagging parts or stalling chapters, as other books of this nature have had. Best of all, the novel stays realistic throughout it all, regardless of the sometimes implausible situations.

Overall I highly, highly recommend this awesome debut to anyone who likes a great novel - chick lit or otherwise! Fans of "The Devil Wears Prada" will adore this book and also find a special treat within the pages.

I picked up this book for a light summer read while I was on vacation and promptly discovered that there is, indeed, such a thing as a too-light summer read.

The thin, predictable plot is not enhanced even by the references to barely-renamed celebrities, most of which are so obvious there's no fun in trying to identify their real life counterparts - not that I cared enough to bother even when it wasn't apparent within a second. The heroine has little insight and less wit and, worst, was eminently unlikeable throughout the book. To call rest of the characters two-dimensional would be an insult to squares.

If you want fun chick-lit, go read Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary again - a far better use of time than this, even if it is your tenth read. Even the occasionally painful purchase-binges of Kinsella's Shopaholic series are better than this fluff - fluff that, like cotton candy after the age of 8, only tastes sticky and leaves you nauseated that you tried to swallow it.

Karen Jacobs thought that landing a prestigious position with the infamous Glorious Pictures was a dream come true. Sure, the heads of the company, twin brothers Phil and Tony Waxman, had reputations for being hard to deal with, but still, it would be worth it, right? Karen soon finds out how wrong she was. Totally immersed in the nonsensical word of film, Karen struggles to find her place in the company while flying low on her boss's radar. Karen's boss Allegra rules the PR department with a whispery voice and an iron fist. Plus, there's all the other wacky office personalities to deal with and the pretentious stars. One wrong step by Karen and she'll be falling off the Hollywood ladder.

I have really mixed feelings about this book. I was expecting something along the lines of "The Devil Wears Prada," but that's not exactly what I got. Karen was not an entirely likeable character. She came across as entitled and spoiled, maybe a little bratty. Because I couldn't really connect to Karen, I couldn't dive into the story like I wanted. I think this novel had excellent potential, but author Pine really dropped the ball. It was an entertaining read, nonetheless.

Rachel Pine's "The Twins of Tribeca" centered around Karen Jacobs who left her job in CNN to be an assistant to a publicist in Glorious Pictures, a major movie production company. Her job in Glorius was extremely stressful and hectic as assistants there were treated disrespectfully and the environment was extremely competitive. Karen had to deal with demanding bosses, movie stars as well as their managers. She was, however, determined to succeed in the company.

I thought this was a so-so read as this was nothing new or different in this ever growing genre. I was engaged for the first half of the book as the author did provide some interesting insights into working for a production company. However, the rest of book dealt with the same thing as the first half and my interest began to diminish especially when there seemed to be no development whatsoever in Karen's personal life. It was strictly concentrated on her job and nothing else. It was all about the chaos in her workplace as well as Karen's backstabbing co-workers. It was an okay read for me and I would recommend this book if you are very interested in the inner workings of a movie production company.

Many might consider "The Twins of Tribeca" to be chick-lit. If so, it's a chick with attitude, one who's decided it's payback time. Author Pine spent 3 ½ years at Miramax Studios - her heroine, Karen, is thrilled to accept a job at Glorious Studios headed by Phil and Tony Waxman. Now, even the most casual of book skimmers will quickly note that Phil and Tony are intended as swift undercuts to Bob and Harvey Weinstein. There's not even a even a quick swipe with a concealer to disguise who they are. The same goes for other celebs and moguls. For instance, Billy Bob Thornton appears as Jimmy-Joe Hawthorne.

Part of the fun in reading is in figuring out who the characters represent and then being glad you've never met any of them. Pine's descriptions don't sketch, they skewer and scathe. Upon beginning her job as a publicity assistant at Glorious, Karen soon discovers that there are 25 people entitled to scream at her, the gal she shares her office with is manipulative and mean, her boss would give Vampira the shudders. Her days are sixteen hours long, press junkets are killers, and she has to constantly watch her back.

On the other hand, there's much to chuckle about in "Twins" as Pine reveals the eccentricities (a kind word) of the stars. It's a quick paced summer read spiced with oceans of gossip and an insider's slant on what red carpet treatment really means.

- Gail Cooke

I read The Twins of Tribeca some time ago, it is not my kind of book, it is very shallow and ultimately quite boring. The reason for my review is that I have just watched the video of The Devil Wears Prada and IT IS THE SAME STORY!! How can they do that? Who copied who? There are differences, one is a film company and the other is a fashion company, one works for a male boss (or two) and the other works for a female boss, but the characters are the same. As soon as the film started I recognized the story so I knew I was not going to be thrilled with the film either. It was light entertainment, passed on an hour or so - personally, I would not recommend either this book or the film based on it.

I was very disappointed in this book. I'm all for the light, "chick-lit" genre, but this book was really sub-par. I felt like I was reading a grade school book report, where one re-words encyclopedia entries to avoid plagerizing. The characters and movies depicted were laughable they were so bad. I almost didn't finish this book and I honestly cannot remember the last time I did that. Thank goodness I borrowed this book from the library and did not waste my money on it. Rachel Pine should look for a different career. Writing is not her forte.

For anyone curious about what it's really and truly like on the inside of the adreneline-fueled, ego-filled world "behind the scenes" at a major movie studio, this is it. With a heroine blessed with a big heart and desire to make it, the unexpected twists and turns of the Business are populated with unrelenting and outright over-the-top personalities, crazed demands, and a workplace entirely entertaining but definitely not for the faint of heart. As we make our way from the red carpet to the Chairman's Office, we learn much about how to make it on the inside, but just as much about the meaning of success.