Primates of Park Avenue by Wednesday Martin - (Publisher...

Primates of Park Avenue by Wednesday Martin - (Publisher Summary: Wednesday Martin decodes the primate social behaviors of Upper East Side mothers in a brilliantly original and witty memoir about her adventures assimilating into that most secretive and elite tribe.)

This book is pure drama right now, and if you don’t mind sort of spoiling the HIGHLY entertaining experience of reading it, check out this recent press. I read those articles right after starting the book, and I admit that it changed my perception of the rest of it. You may want to skip this review if you haven’t read the press about it and want to read it blind. Anyway, I was wondering if I would have noticed the inconsistencies mentioned originally by the New York Post if I hadn’t known about them, and the answer, in a few circumstances, is probably yes. The discussion of SoulCycle is a huge, glaring WTF in a book supposedly set in 2007-ish, for example. Martin’s entire premise of the book is that she decides to put her PhD to good use (she went to Yale, did you know she went to Yale?) by doing an anthropological study of the habits and lives of monied women on the Upper East Side. However, after reading the press and the book, I think the book is itself an anthropological study–in a way. How badly do we (culturally, socially) want to read about the absurdities of wealthy women? Badly enough that we may not notice or care that a good portion of the book was fudged–chronologically impossible or blatantly fraudulent? Did she maybe even make the whole thing up as some weird sick study in how we’ll read almost anything if it’s the literary equivalent of a Real Housewives series? I don’t think the final work was slick enough for a long con like that, but there’s no denying that the huge, smart pre-release publicity kicked this thing into high gear…and also turned a spotlight on the book’s issues post-release. But maybe that was the plan long con all along.

One Kick by Chelsea Cain - (Publisher Summary: Kick Lannigan has taught herself to be dangerous. She can pick any lock, fire any weapon, throw any knife, and aim a punch at her opponent’s trachea. She has also taught herself to be safe. So when enigmatic John Bishop shows up asking her to help him rescue missing kids, Kick has every reason to be wary.)

One Kick is the equivalent of a summer blockbuster movie, but I mean that in the best possible way. It’s suspenseful and exciting, and Kick is an interesting character to follow through the story. I’ve been really drawn to escapist fiction like this the past few months and this is one of the better ones I’ve read. It moves fast, isn’t too dark (or light), and the ending–well, I won’t spoil it, but there’s a sequel coming next year.