Chasing Harry Winston - Lauren Weisberger

Date Started: 5/25/11
Date Finished: 5/28/11

One-Word Summary: Fluff

When you pick up a book titled Chasing Harry Winston you don't expect it to be the next War and Peace. You know full well that you are reading chick-lit and your expectations for the plot and quality of writing should thereby be adjusted accordingly. This is not to say that chick-lit isn't enjoyable; it most certainly can be. But it can also be bad.

Chasing Harry Winston wasn't bad. It was predictable, annoying at times, jumpy and probably too long. But if you're in the mood for chick-lit it will probably suit you just fine.

So plot-wise there isn't a ton to say here. The story follows three women in New York: Emmy, Leigh and Adriana. They've been friends since college, and are facing (gasp) turning thirty with varying degrees of success. The story centers around a bet made - that Emmy (the "prude" who has only slept with three men in her life) will embark on the tour-de-whore and have meaningless sex while traveling for her new job, and Adriana (a character seemingly based entirely on Samantha from Sex and the City) will find her one and only and get engaged. Does Emmy learn powerful lessons about herself while attempting to have meaningless affairs? Of course. Does Adriana find someone but ultimately decide that she gets to set the rules regarding the relationship and its exclusivity? Of course. And meanwhile there is Leigh, who is engaged to "perfect" Russell and who any reader worth her chick-lit salt can tell is going to have an affair with Jesse from the page he is introduced. And of course they end up together.

I don't feel bad spilling the beans on this story because it is SO predictable. It's also jumpy, going from one narrator to the next in quick succession and skipping entire segments of the story. There were moments when I had to stop and go back a few pages, checking to see if I had missed something because I couldn't understand how the story seemed to jump weeks (but looking back I guess this makes sense; the story has to get through an entire year so that our girls can have a celebration dinner on the anniversary of the bet).

When I started this book I was curious what I would think because I didn't really like The Devil Wears Prada, the author's (obviously) bestselling book. In fact, it is one of the few exceptions to the rule: I actually thought the movie was better. So I wondered - would I have the same reaction to this effort? I think the answer is probably yes in that a movie version would probably be better than the book. I can just see Adriana Lima cast as Adriana (same name! amazing!) and Ginnifer Goodwin as Emmy. Now they just need a Leigh...