Little Miss Bradshaw
The idea of Candace Bushnell repackaging her Sex and the City heroine for the Gossip Girl set in her new young adult novel, The Carrie Diaries, doesn't exactly sit well with us. But Joal Ryan of the Los Angeles Times has read it. And she says it's not so bad. In fact she pretty much gives the book a rave review:
"When you first open Candace Bushnell's "The Carrie Diaries," which
positions the author's iconic "Sex and the City" character as a
high-school senior and fashions her for a teenaged audience, your
generational cynicism may prepare you for the worst.
But then, like the reveal at the end of one of the good M. Night
Shyamalan movies, it hits you: This is not "Li'l Carrie." It's not
dumbed-down "Sex and the City." It's an origin story. An addictive,
ingenious origin story."
Whatever Joal, we're still skeptical. Seriously, have you ever read on of Bushnell's novels? They're generally a mess. Plus, we have to wonder if it's even worth while for Bushnell to revisit this character, who was originally just a sporadically used pseudonym for the author when she was writing her own New York Observer column. Carrie Bradshaw is so associated with Sarah Jessica Parker's squeeking, overly romantic portrayal of the character that it's hard to know what to expect in The Carrie Diaries. Is this Carrie from the TV show, or Carrie from Bushnell's Sex and the City, a far ballsier, bitchier, more cynical woman, not nearly as likeable, but way less irritating that SJP's Carrie.
Of coure, having asked all those questions, we're now going to have to read the actual book. Can anyone say Beach Read?!
Read more: Book review: 'The Carrie Diaries' by Candace Bushnell
