Sex and the City {the book}
Mood:
accident prone
Topic: Dating
It might be difficult for Sex and the City fanatics to remember that Sex and the City began as a column and formed itself into a book. So Wednesday night, I curled up on the couch and finished reading the book that put Candace Bushnell on the map (Candace Bushnell, same initials as Carrie Bradshaw. Coincidence? I don't think so).
Let's start with Bushnell herself. According to her web site, Candacebushnell.com, she grew up in Connecticut and moved to NYC at age 19. She went to Rice University, along with New York University. At 19, she wrote a children's book, moving on to freelance in her twenties. She wrote relationship pieces for Mademoiselle, Self Magazine, and Esquire. In 1990, the precursor to Sex and the City was born—a column in Hampton's Magazine known as The Human Cartoon. I 1993, she began writing for the New York Observer. One year later, she created Sex and the City.
In 1995, the Sex and the City columns were published as a book and in 1996, they became an HBO series (and phenomenon). Today, Bushnell has authored five novels: Sex and the City, Four Blondes, Trading Up, Lipstick Jungle, and One Fifth Avenue. Whew! What a gal!
On to Sex and the City {the book}. Let's get one thing clear: the book is totally different than the show or the (horrible) movie. At first, I thought otherwise. Take for example this excerpt from page two:
"Welcome to the Age of Un-Innocence. The glittering lights of Manhattan that served as backdrops for Edith Wharton's bodice-heaving trysts are still glowing—but the stage is empty. No one has breakfast at Tiffany's, and no one has affairs to remember—instead, we have breakfast at 7 a.m. and affairs we try to forget as quickly as possible."
Sound familiar? Yes, because we've all heard it in the first episode of Sex and the City, "Sex and the City." In that same episode Carrie and the girls (Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte) all vow to quit looking for Mr. Perfect and start having sex like men—without the emotional attachment. This is the same thing that happens in the first chapter of the novel...but the similarities pretty much end there.
The characters names are the same, or similar, but they aren't the characters we saw on HBO. Honestly, I liked this book, but I liked the show too and I don't know how the television series came from this book.
The Narrator: It's not Carrie Bradshaw. I'm assuming it's Candace Bushnell, but it never says so.
Capote Duncan: one of New York's most eligible bachelors. In the show, he might be in one episode, but he has a presence throughout the book.
Skipper Johnson: remember him? In the series, he's the one swooning over Mirnada. Not here—he's 25, and has a disbelief in love.
Barkley: 25, an artist.
Charlotte: an English journalist.
Magda: So not a maid in this story—friends of "Peri," the guy who doesn't make any sense according to our narrator.
Standford: closet gay guy, friend of Carrie's
Amalita: She's in maybe two episodes of the series. Her character in the book is the same, basically she's a high-end prostitute who travels the world in fabulous fashions. In the book, she has a child, but is closer to Carrie than in the series.
Samantha Jones: a 40-ish movie producer.
Miranda: executive producer at a cable company
Belle & Srah: two of Carrie's close friends
Carrie: writer. However, this Carrie isn't the fun-loving one we know. She isn't financially successful, and she seems a bit crazy, as in psycho. She let's Mr. Big care for her, even when they are fighting.
Mr. Big: He's very similar in the book (he still says "abso-fucking-lutely") and smokes cigars like a pro, but his relationship with Carrie is extremely different, which I'll get to.
One of my favorite scenes with Mr. Big and Carrie in the television series is in the book:
"This is my work," she said. "I'm researching a story for a friend of mine about women who have sex like men. You know, they have sex and afterwards they feel nothing."
Mr. Big eyed her. "But you're not like that," he said.
"Aren't you?" she asked.
"Not a drop. Not even half a drop," he said.
Carrie looked at Mr. Big. "What's wrong with you?"
"Oh I get it," said Mr. Big. "You've never been in love."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
"And you have?"
"Abso-fucking-lutely."
Many of the places they mention in the book are the same—Bowery Bar, Tunnel, and the S&M Club. There are a few new stories, including one about "bicycle boys."
In the book, Carrie and Big's relationship is immediately more serious than what we understand from the show. They spend days together and go on many trips to Aspen or to the Hamptons. Many times, Carrie threatens Big with getting pregnant, or leaving simply because she doesn't believe he loves her.
If you like the series, you should read this book. Bushnell certainly paved the way for the true "chick-lit" and shaped the way women express themselves in relationships.
Posted by wittywriter7
at 12:01 AM CDT
Updated: Friday, April 16, 2010 8:38 AM CDT
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