The Right Address
by
Carrie Karasyov & Jill Kargman
Order:
USA
Can
Broadway, 2004 (2004)
Hardcover, Audio, CD
Reviewed by Melissa Parcel
P
ark Avenue houses the wealthy elite of New York City. Combining both inherited and earned incomes, the men and women of the 10021 zip code spend their days and nights with each other at various functions. The important thing is being seen, having your picture taken, and making sure you cut the other person down before they get you.
M
elanie Korn is the new wife of '
coffin king
' Arthur Korn. They met on an airplane where she was a flight attendant. Reeling from his divorce from society maven Diandra, Arthur was flattered by the attention. This led Arthur and Melanie to quickly fall in love and marry. Melanie finds it difficult to insinuate herself into New York society. Her loud, brash ways, coupled with an ostentatious sense of taste make her prime pickings for the gossip hounds. But other residents of Park Avenue have their own secrets to hide, and when some of these come to light, more than one member of the upper crust is ducking for cover.
T
his novel takes a scathing look at New York society in all its catty glory. From descriptions of the '
right
' designers (always Valentino, never Prada) to the proper way to purchase jewelry (only from an estate sale), this is an insider's look at a lifestyle that few get to experience (and after reading this book, I'm not sure why anyone would want to!) Melanie's character is supposed to draw the reader's sympathy. And though after a while, I did start to like her, she's still too much a caricature of a nouveau riche type to endear herself to readers.
T
hough
The Right Address
has been compared to
The Nanny Diaries
, I found that it fell short in humor and in providing characters to care about. Partway through the book I started feeling sorry for these women who felt the need to continually backbite. Yet I did enjoy peeking into a world that I will never enter - which is most of the fun of
The Right Address
, and worth the time for that alone.
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