Chasing Harry Winston: A Novel

Every chick lit book has the same sort of format: a 20 to 30 something girl (or girls) with one or more dilema - in her love life, her job, or in her diet, most likely. The only thing that seperates good chick lit from bad one is how well written the story is. We love our chick lit when we can identify with the protagonist, while laughing at the extremes that she reaches in attempting to work out what she needs to work out - which is actually pretty similar to what we have to deal with in our real lives. Originality, of course, is also a must - while avoiding the pitfall of too extreme plot twists (especially towards the end of the book). And let's not forget the lessons the protagonist learns by the end of the book, which make the ending so satisfying (& usually happy) for us.

This isn't the case here. All three girls seem to already have a charmed life right in the beginning of the book: they all have good jobs, no money problems, no problems attracting guys (& very eligible guys, at that), they all look more than reasonably well, they all have great friends. So all their problems seem to be small & petty, and don't really require that much whining over. And what's even worse - they all do the most shallow & predictable things in order to get their lives "in order", and I hadn't felt that any of the, grew or came up with any conclusions after all those trials & experiences they went through...

This book is a major departure for Lauren Weisberger-- in that it is terrible to the point of nearly being unreadable. Don't get me wrong-- I don't take my chick lit too seriously. If a book has a pink cover with stilettos on it, there's a slight chance it might have reasonably good writing and character development, but usually the best you can hope for is a cheesy but fun, quick read. This book, however, crosses the threshold from silly to painful. The characters are one-dimensional, stereotypical, and derivative of every other mainstay of chick culture-- she might as well have named Adriana Samantha. Oh, and the way that she defined one of her characters as ethnic-- she made her say "querida" in every other sentence, because you know, that's how Latinas talk. And by the way, I live in NYC, and it's not too often that you stumble across world famous actors/ directors/ sportscasters/ authors who are just dying to go out with you. Or, for that matter, that you suddenly get movie deals dropped into your lap. I was also annoyed by the title, which as it turns out, applies only vaguely to only one character-- it's almost as if she chose the title because she thought it sounded good and not because it had any huge relevance to the book.

But perhaps what drove me the most crazy was how they kept waxing poetic about how old they are. The characters are all 29 year-olds who turn 30 over the course of the book, and they all act like they're turning 60. In one scene, they're out to dinner celebrating one of their 30th birthdays, and the waitress says something to the effect of "I hope I look like you when I'm your age." The characters roll their eyes, saying the waitress couldn't be older than 24, as if that were a zygote in comparison to their many years. Because in the six years between 24 and 30, you go from being a naive cheerleader to being a mature, condescending crone. The book was peppered with phrases like "when you get to be our age, you rush into marriage for the wrong reasons" [paraphrased] and it just wore on me after a while. I'm 29 myself, and it just doesn't fit with reality.

If you're so desperately curious and need to read this book, please, do yourself a favor, and visit your local library.

I hated this book, the 3 women are something out of a bad lifetime movie. I did read the Devil WP which I liked but that was probably due to the fact that it was the authors life experiences. There are much better books out there with women being written as 3 dimentional characters not this one though. Seriously skip it!

Adriana, Leigh, and Emmy have been friends since college. They are about to turn 30 and want to do something to shake up their lives

Emmy has only been with three men in her life and just got dumped by her long term boyfriend. She has a new job traveling the world and the friends come up with a plan. Emmy is to have sex with a man for every continent in the world. She wants to do it, but after getting a bad start in Paris she is not so sure she can actually do it

Adriana is a spoiled rich girl who has had so many men that she can not count. The friends decide that what she needs is to settle down with one man and get engaged and they will give her a year to do it. Shortly after the bet she and her good gay friend (gotta have the gay best friend)go to a movie shoot and she gets interested in the producer.

Leigh is a book editor with a comfortable relationship with her boyfriend. Then things start changing when he suddenly proposes at a dinner celebrating their one year anniversary. Shortly afterward she is asked to edit the book of a famous writer. She is not sure what to do because she has feelings for the writer.

What happens with the three? Will Emmy and Adrianna actually do what they set out to accomplish? Read Chasing Harry Winston

I have a rule learned through many painful experiences that I never by the next novel following a blockbuster in hardback. But I loved 'The Devil Wears Prada" and I bought this in hardback anyway. And boy was I sorry. This book is terrible. The characters are vapid and stupid. I didn't like any of them. Adriana is the most annoying character I have encountered in a long time. Her habit of saying "querida" every sentence set my teeth on edge.
Don't waste your money.