Twenty years after her sharp, seminal first book Sex and the City reshaped the landscape of pop culture and dating with its fly on the wall look at the mating rituals of the Manhattan elite, the trailblazing Candace Bushnell delivers a new book on the wilds and lows of sex and dating after fifty. Set between the Upper East Side of Manhattan and a country enclave known as The Village, Is There … Side of Manhattan and a country enclave known as The Village, Is There Still Sex in the City? gathers Bushnell’s signature short, sharp, satirical commentaries on the love and dating habits of middle aged men and women as they continue to navigate the ever-modernizing world of relationships. Throughout, Bushnell documents 21st century dating phenomenon, such as the “Unintended Cub Situation” in which a sensible older woman suddenly becomes the love interest of a much younger man, the “Mona Lisa” Treatment—a vaginal restorative surgery often recommended to middle aged women, and what it’s really like to go on Tinder dates as a fifty something divorcee. Bushnell also updates one of her most celebrated stories from Sex and the City, “The Bicycle Boys,” a breed of New York man who was always trying to bring his bike up to women’s apartments. Once an anomaly, Bushnell charts their new ubiquitousness, in addition to where, and how to do your own man stalking via bicycle (and whether or not it’s worth it).
In Is There Still Sex in The City? Bushnell looks at love and life from all angles—marriage and children, divorce and bereavement, as well as the very real pressures on women to maintain their youth and have it all. This is a pull-no-punches social commentary and an indispensable companion to one of the most revolutionary dating books of the twentieth century.
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The woman who started the Sex and the City franchise is back and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
If you thought dating in your late twenties and early thirties was a challenge, dating in the Hamptons in your fifties is like dancing in a mine field. But never fear, Candace Bushnell is here guide you. Told from the stark point of view of the main character, Candace, while experiencing and observing the pitfalls of aging while looking fabulous, I gobbled it up.
Bushnell writes with naked honesty and it’s one of the things I adore about her. She doesn’t hold back. There’s moments of hilarity and heartbreaking moments that’ll take your breath away. A refreshing take on dating in today’s culture and one I highly recommend.
Perfect for fans of SATC but I must warn you: this is not a sequel to SATC. It is a new chapter for women and dating.
Disclaimer: I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley in the hopes I’d review it.
My Rating: 5 stars
This should actually be a non-fiction book! It’s as if she did research in the field (she did I suppose) but so many times I found myself saying, yes! exactly!! She is a social scientist and so on target with her writing. Please give us another novel – I’m all caught up and need more to read from you!!
“I wonder if she’s disappointed with her life, the way I sometimes am…..And then I calm myself with the mantra that has soothed women for ages when we ask these questions: It’s all about choices . Like we actually have control over our lives.”
Before I begin, I admit I am a big fan of Candace Bushnell’s *writing*, her columns included, and I watched Sex in the City when it went into syndication. However, as her writing proves, HBO took the ideas and rarely the substance of Bushnell’s work to make a series that millions have loved and watched. I’m old enough to recognize the difference. I hope reviewers do the same. This was a library book, I do not own it. I chose to read and review it.
No, this is far from SITC redux. Bushnell’s, in her inevitable manner, brings us into a small group of older women to show how we- and at 62 I claim “membership”- survive in this world of beautiful, monied older women -[note: I live on a fixed income. In this ream, I do not fit in] and how society is learning to treat them, specifically 5 women and Candace, and how, more importantly how they treat themselves, warts and all. This is a brave new world. I challenge readers to look, with Bushnell, at how we accept or reject living in it. Highly recommended 5/5
In case the name Candace Bushnell sounds familiar, Candace is the originator of the Sex in the City series starring Sarah Jessica Parker who played Carrie Bradshaw— sweet, lovable, conscientious, reasonable, head on straight kind of young woman who sometimes is confused what the right thing is, but acts anyway and accepts the consequences. Always analyzing, studying, wondering, Candace and Carrie Bradshaw both share these qualities. In Candace’s newest book, the dating situation of today’s middle-aged New York City/Hamptons woman is explored and explained. Not a pretty sight. Society and life have changed since the 1980s when the sexes were not at war, men dominated situations, and most women still needed men for financial security, impregnation, and social acceptance.
Voila! Times have sure changed! I laughed out loud quite a few times as this book analyzes and presents today’s dating situation in a very true light. No lofty philosophies going on here. Often ridiculous and shallow, modern dating in our society has gone down the tubes. Dependent on social media for interaction, women and men are swiping left, right, and any which way to hook a date for Saturday night.
Today’s middle-aged woman often finds herself with an ace up her sleeve. Educated and financially solvent, she can improve the appearance of lines and wrinkles, get that tummy tucked, and all body fat sucked out while having her female parts lifted, made bigger, and rejuvenated. The Mona Lisa Technique makes the vag supple and slippery, like in the old days! Three treatments for $3,000 in the doctor’s office. This technique does for women what viagara does for men. A lot more costly, but it works!
So, many of these women, after being dumped by their back-stabbing husbands for a younger, money-loving replacement, now have the means to attract their very own boy toy. This physical perfection combined with a beautiful home in a tony neighborhood, especially a Hamptons house with a pool, a fancy car or driver, open-minded family and friends, an upwardly mobile string of invitations, enough spending money to flash around, now allows this once defunct woman to play very nicely with friends. So the boy toys are not permanent? Who cares? There are more where that one came from. A lonely life? Not as lonely as the one before!
Now, there is a whole new set of things to consider. Beware of the hot man who needs a temporary place to live. You might have to forcibly kick him out. Beware of the Tinder online dating hookup. Men openly expect to have one way sex, whereby a woman’s lipstick would get very smeared. (I’m trying to be delicate here.) Beware of the guys who look young and innocent. They could be underage jailbait looking for a blackmail opportunity. Check out those drivers’ licenses! Beware of the rich much, much older man who sees his face and body from forty years ago when he looks in the mirror. Eyesight problems? No, perception problems. Arrogance such as this never goes away.
Funny and sad at the same time.
Despite all the rejects, bad experiences, users and losers, there are nice men out there—not enough to go around, but if you’re lucky and allow the quiet, open, honest, hard-working, thoughtful men into your life, who knows?
I had the pleasure of meeting the author, Candace Bushnell, at the East Hampton Library’s Authors Night in August of this year. Friendly. So pretty. Sweet. Kind. Gentle. And with the new man in her life right next to her, his handsome face proudly beaming whenever he looked at Candace! Congratulations to Candace for finding happiness with someone deserving of her love.
When I heard that there was going to be a follow-up to one of my favourite books ever, I couldn’t have been any more excited… but also worried. How would the author match such a modern classic of the women’s fiction (AKA chick lit) genre that is SATC? But the always genius Candace Bushnell has done it once again. She has delivered another collection of witty, sassy, and insightful modern tales about dating life (and relationships in general), which are about being over 50. Will Sassy, Kitty, Queenie and Tilda Tia become the new, more mature Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte? I would love to see it!
Sharp and sassy, Candace Bushnell has once again tapped into the cultural moment and mindset, now with the most powerful demographic of all. A must-read.
Finally a book that captures what it’s like to be a woman in her 50s in America.
It’s not a pretty sight.
But.
The 60s are a lot better once you get past the MAM (Middle Age Madness) of the 50s.
All of it wrapped up in the signature Bushnell crackling dialog and wit. Didn’t want it to end.
I was beyond excited to learn there was a new “Sex in the City” book. I thought it would feature the characters from Sex and the City, and it took me a while to realize the main character was Candace Bushnell herself. However, before I even comprehended who the story was truly about I was hooked. The book was well written and funny, and it provided such a wonderful perspective of period in life that so many women experience – getting over, starting over, and dating after long term relationships have ended.