Sex and the City

Title: Sex and the City
Author: Candace Bushnell
Publishing Date: 1997

Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City can be likened to a debutante's ball- a formal introduction if you will, to that of today's modern chick lit. Other pioneers have traversed these roads, most notably Helen Fielding with her widely popular Bridget Jones's Diary. Many hail this as the first piece of literature that would give way to the chick lit genre. In contrast to Bridget Jones's Diary, Sex and the City embodies a more glamorous quality.

The central characters lead upscale lives and have fabulous careers. It becomes apparent that Bushnell has experienced much of the subject matter first-hand, as she does an excellent job of portraying these women from an insider's perspective. These New Yorkers spend their time socializing at the trendiest clubs, their attention perpetually focused on the various trials, tribulations and paradoxes of their latest relationships. The in's and outs of the Manhattan dating world is scrutinized in vivid detail while the search for an eligible bachelor seems like a cruel joke to those in their mid-thirties.

Sex and the City is both an iconic and respected constituent within the chick lit genre. While I earnestly support Bushnell's uninhibited candor and brutal honesty describing the feminine prerogative of dating in a city full of overly jaded people, it just doesn't quite appeal to my personal liking. The truth is, this is a collection of short essays from Bushnell's column in the New York Observer and the format is something that you'll either find artistically satisfying or downright irritating. I understand that it's not meant to be read as a novel, following a strict forthright timeline, but as a casual reader, it comes across as choppy and somewhat confusing. It is difficult to follow, as new characters are constantly being introduced. Sub-chapters split the main chapters into about a billion different sections. One sub-section is literally two sentences long. Maybe we've become spoiled by watching the HBO series where the character's personas are so rich and engrained in our mental schemata. Each episode is clearly defined and formatted and it's difficult to be drawn into this original version after we've become so familiarized with the TV interpretation.

This may not have been one of my favorites, but overall I appreciate this book for numerous reasons. I respect it's strong cultural connotations and the manner in which it pushes the envelope, reinventing preconceptions of what it is to be single. It advanced the genre of chick lit and gave a voice to the single, urban woman in her mid-thirties struggling with life's many challenges.

Recommendation:
Somewhat difficult to follow, but definitely worth reading if you're an avid chick lit or Sex and the City fan.

Average Rating: 5.2/10

Rating System:
Plot Development: 1/10
Character Development: 2/10
Originality: 10/10
Format: 1/10
Complexity: 10/10
Humor: 7/10