A Novel with Thoughts and Ponderings

THE SOCIAL CLIMBER'S HANDBOOK

Author: Molly Jong-Fast ISBN: 9780345501899 5/2011 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: VILLARD

The Social Clinber's Handbook by Molly Jong-Fast
HIGH SOCIETY CAN BE A KILLER.
 
Upper East Side socialite Daisy Greenbaum is accustomed to the finer things—designer clothes, summers in the Hamptons, elite private school educations for her daughters, and a staggeringly expensive Park Avenue apartment. But Daisy finds her well-heeled lifestyle on precarious footing after her husband, master of the universe Dick Greenbaum, learns about some shady dealings that threaten his position at The Bank.

Daisy refuses to allow her family to slip down the social ladder, so she devises a madcap plan: Anyone who jeopardizes her place at the top will simply have to be dispatched—six feet under. From Dick’s arrogant boss to his scheming former mistress to a pair of nosy bloggers, Daisy’s hit list is a who’s who of big names with even bigger secrets. But with the body count rising as the Dow Jones falls, can Daisy really get away with murder?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

THE SOCIAL CLIMBER'S HANDBOOK features cover quotes from several best-selling authors who all claim this book to be a “great comedy,” “deliciously wicked,” and “an irresistible read.” These quotes make me wonder if we all read the same book. I found this book to be a mostly dark tale with an unsympathetic narrator, set against an inaccessible background.

THE SOCIAL CLIMBER'S HANDBOOK is set in 2008, just before the collapse of the economy. Even though there’s nothing really funny about an economic depression from which this country still hasn’t recovered, I was willing to give Ms. Jong-Fast the benefit of the doubt. It turns out I was too generous—the only time I laughed during this story was at a sentence that, on second glance, I read wrong. The lack of humor is compounded by the author’s repeated attempts to explain the cause of the economic collapse. I don’t doubt that Ms. Jong-Fast understands the genesis of this recession; however, her explanations were still quite inaccessible to the casual reader, and ultimately unnecessary for understanding the main plot: a rich woman, threatened by the potential loss of status, begins killing everyone in her path. This is not a protagonist that I want to spend any time with.

I did not enjoy THE SOCIAL CLIMBER'S HANDBOOK on any level, and the only good thing about the book was that there were only 240 pages to suffer through.

Melissa Stratford

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