Everybody Rise

A Novel

By: Stephanie Clifford

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren

Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

An instant New York Times best seller!

Chosen as one of Summer's Best Books by People magazine

Featured in Time magazine's Summer Reading

Entertainment Weekly's Summer Must List

Good Housekeeping Beach Reads Feature

"A witty tale about a high-society wannabe... Little is more delicious than watching an ambitious but tragically flawed protagonist brought down - especially in a designer cocktail dress." (The Washington Post)

Everyone yearns to belong, to be part of the "in crowd", but how far are you willing to go to be accepted? In the case of bright, funny, and socially ambitious Evelyn Beegan, the answer is much too far....

At 26, Evelyn is determined to carve her own path in life and free herself from the influence of her social-climbing mother, who propelled her through prep school and onto New York's glamorous Upper East Side. Evelyn has long felt like an outsider to her privileged peers, but when she gets a job at a social network aimed at the elite, she's forced to embrace them.

Recruiting new members for the site, Evelyn steps into a promised land of Adirondack camps, Newport cottages, and Southampton clubs thick with socialites and Wall Streeters. Despite herself, Evelyn finds the lure of belonging intoxicating and starts trying to pass as old money herself. When her father, a crusading class-action lawyer, is indicted for bribery, Evelyn must contend with her own family's downfall as she keeps up appearances in her new life, grasping with increasing desperation as the ground underneath her begins to give way.

©2015 Stephanie Clifford (P)2015 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"...the performance is ferociously entertaining, and the intensity of Kellgren's reading propels the plot in a way that is well-nigh irresistible." (AudioFile)

Good book - annoying narrater

Liked the story line quite a bit- had to stop listening at times with the narration- too bad, took away from the book.

Great book!!!! Neeeewwww yoooooorrrkkk!?????

I saw this on FB.. Some other author promoting it I believe? So I decided to listen to a sample. It sounded pretty good so I bought it. This is what happened to the cast of Saint Elmo's fire when they were mixed in a flask with Candace Bushnell and her elite New York fictional characters! Evelyn and her mother are great and crazy! The only thing I did not like was the ending with the friend Preston as we really did not get to find out if he forgave her! Love love love it!!! Everybody rise! Also the narrator has a wonderful voice ❤️👍

AWFUL main character. She is shallow and stupid.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would have written some kind of reason for the reader to like this main character.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The story was interesting. It was entertaining to have a front seat to the shallow world of the rich.

What about Katherine Kellgren’s performance did you like?

She is fantastic. I love her work and enjoy listening to her very much.

Did Everybody Rise inspire you to do anything?

Yes, to be very cautious before listening to anything written by this author. Was the book severely edited? There was never any reason given as to why the main character should be liked.

Should Have Cut My Losses

The story seemed to spin and spin, not really landing.
The narration was maddening. The characters were a jumble, no continuity. Many times what was intended to be haughty, came across as old hag.
I had hoped it would improve as the story progressed, but alas, it did not.

So good, i listened twice!

I really enjoyed the story line, characters and narrator. I have listed to this book twice and will move likely listen again

Mediocre story; hard-to-believe characters

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Needs richer characters: the characters all seem forced, molded to work for the plot rather than realistic people of their own. Needs a better plot: this book poses as a coming-of-age story for early adulthood, but it doesn't succeed. It's just not believable. The main character seems reasonable and rational at the beginning of the story and completely crazy by the end without any basis.

What was most disappointing about Stephanie Clifford’s story?

It was slow and not believable. I don't believe Ms. Clifford did sufficient research about the New York high society scene or white collar criminal law. I kept shaking my head and thinking "that's not how that works."

What about Katherine Kellgren’s performance did you like?

Katherine is never disappointing; she just didn't have good material to perform.

Was Everybody Rise worth the listening time?

No.

Any additional comments?

Not worth the credit.

Wharton-ish

I really enjoyed this book, which has been compared to the great Edith Wharton. I found Evelyn's fall from grace was more difficult to read than Lily Bart's because unlike Lily, Evelyn is not constrained by the same social circumstances, she has choices where Lily had few. Evelyn really has no excuses for her behavior.

My job involves working with the 1%, sometimes with "People Like Us" some more like the Beegans. I have to say that the author is spot on with so many details. The traditions, the exclusions, the vacation homes, even the restaurants.

My only wish is that the book went to the fall of 2008 and showed us what happened to some of the characters after the market crash. Some of it was telegraphed at the end, but specifics would have been fun.

Slice of Life story, a little jumpy throughout

I liked the story, it gave a glimpse of what it was like to be a a beegan for a while but the story did jump back and forth a bit too much. and I also felt like the ending was a bit rushed. the most memorable moment for me was the Epic argument in the middle of the lake I don't want to give too much away for anyone that hasn't read the book or listen to the book yet but it was quite interesting to say the least.

Great listen!

The narrator does a great job of portraying the characters throughout--from Mrs. Beegan's faux-old money affectation to Evelyn's posh group of friends and her own attempts at trying to make it among the "real" NYC elite.

Glad I listened to the end...

I struggled to enjoy this listen for the first half, but the bittersweet ending made it worth it!