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TRADING UP
by Candace Bushnell
Hyperion, July 2003
404 pages
$24.95
ISBN: 078686818X


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Janey Wilcox is a beautiful woman, a famous and successful Victoria's Secret model, yet she is still hoping for more. The desire for better cars, a higher-caliber (i.e. old money) best girl-buddy, a wealthy marrying-type man (or at least the fabulous looking polo player she spotted at the club), and the yearning for a future as a well known, deeper and more accomplished woman eats away at Janey until nothing else matters. Because ­ for goodness sake, she deserves it, of course!

TRADING UP By Candace Bushnell leads the readers to follow Janey as she does her best to climb higher on the social ladder in every factor of her life. After all, being rich and beautiful isnıt enough, is it? One must be a timeless beauty, wealthier than can be imagined and really, sincerely, and truly respected. Right?

As the summer and the social whirl of the year 2000 heats up in the Hamptons, Janey somehow becomes the ³best friend² of socialite Mimi Kilroy. Mimiıs opulent childhood, pictured in magazines and newspapers, haunted Janeyıs own, less than photogenic youth.

Right away Mimi pushes Janey into an introduction with Selden Rose, the new head of the MovieTime Network. Janey isnıt interested, but when she sees that very well married Mimi has hooked the to-die-for gorgeous polo player Janey was certain could have been hers, if she had gotten the chance to put out some bait, she agrees to wed Seldon. After all, heıs not too bad looking, heıs wealthy and ­ well, heıs the only man sheıs met in years who sees her as the marrying type.

In TRADING UP, we are taken along on a 400 page meandering odyssey of Janeyıs world, up and down the same estuary over and over again. Janey wants; Janey thinks she should have, then knows she deserves; Janey makes a plan to get it and follows it, morals being seen as silly. When her plan is successful, Janey fears being found out -- oh the agony! Then Janey is found out and ­ of course ­ all is well. Over and over again.

Itıs difficult to care about Janey. Thereıs not much to her, other than a heaping serving of narcissism wrapped up in a pretty package. Thereıs little tension and scant interest for the readers to see if everything will work out for Janey, because in the world of TRADING UP, self is all, and the more selfish you are, the more you will succeed. So we just know that pretty, self-centered, self-indulgent, egotistical Janey will turn out victorious.

Bushnell writes well. The beginning of the book will keep you interested and entertained. She has a great eye for details, both in character makeup and in haute couture, but halfway through the book the reader canıt help but notice what happens. Nothing happens. The book simply keeps slogging along. Suddenly I realized that there wasnıt anything interesting in Janey, her coven of friends, and their expensive but worthless lives. The same schemes happen all throughout TRADING UP, given impetus by individual selfishness, and the results are ungratifying. I had to force myself to finish the book.

Throughout the story, while we are sampling the lives of the highest percentile of the wealthy in New York City, Bushnell makes a point of telling us that everything here takes place in the year 2000. I can only imagine that even Bushnell would think it too obscene to write a book about these types of people, who only think of their self-centered, privileged lives, after September 11, 2001. But there's the problem. The moment the year is mentioned, I couldnıt help but think about that day a year later, and the people in TRADING UP became even more repugnant.

The end of TRADING UP leaves itself open to a sequel. I know itıs a popular custom for writers recently, but I find a follow-up novel to TRADING UP, exceedingly depressing to contemplate. And thatıs too bad, because Ms. Bushnell is a competent writer.

If youıre already a fan of Candace Bushnell because of her previous books, including the very popular SEX AND THE CITY and 4 BLONDES, then by all means take a look at TRADING UP. If you havenıt read her before, then I suggest borrowing TRADING UP from the library. That way, the only thing youıll lose is the time you spend on reading it.

Reviewed by Sharon Katz, August 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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