Trading Up

By: Candace Bushnell

Narrated by: Mira Sorvino

Janey Wilcox wants to be on top. Not since author Candace Bushnell created Carrie Bradshaw and Sex and the City has there been a heroine like Janey Wilcox, the protagonist of Bushnell's extraordinary new drama. Janey is a beautiful yet struggling social climber determined to survive in New York City society. Listeners first met Janey in Bushnell's international best seller 4 Blondes. Now, everyone's favorite character is back, with a major modeling contract, a Porsche Boxster, and big plans.

As Janey attends the hottest party in the Hamptons, the listener is drawn into a seemingly glamorous world of $100,000 cars, hunky polo players, media moguls and relationships whose hidden agendas are detectable only by the socially astute. But look out! As Janey is pulled into this world of too much money and too few morals, unseen forces are conspiring to bring down. Janey Wilcox is too young and too beautiful to fail, however.

Trading Up is a hilarious tour de force by the writer who made Manolo Blahniks a household name. As entertaining as it is searingly observant and bitingly witty, the novel takes aim at a world in which one can never be rich enough, well dressed enough or high enough in the social pecking order. Like Jane Austen or Edith Wharton, Bushnell lovingly skewers a society she knows well, and brings listeners inside the heads and conversations of characters who could have come right from the pages of Vanity Fair. Listeners will love following Janey as she rises, falls and picks herself up again and again.

©2003 Candace Bushnell (P)2003 Hyperion

Critic reviews

"Satisfyingly dishy and as addictively readable the second time around." (Booklist)
"[Busnell] takes readers inside Manhattan society with her trademark verve, sass, wit and sex." (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Trading Up

Trading Up was a surprisingly funny read. Mira Sorvino did an excellent job of telling the story. I wasn't sure what to expect, but couldn't stop listening and wanted the story to continue. Nice job!

Didn't quite live up to SITC

I was hoping for the depth of Sex in the City to go with the glamour this book seemed to promise. But I didn't like the main character...I found myself rooting for bad things to happen to her.

A Fun Read!

Alas, I will never be a Victoria's Secret model living in New York City! This novel takes its readers (listeners) to another life. After all, isn't that transportation one of the joys of fiction reading? I recommend this novel to anyone whose mind needs to escape from their own reality.

Very Disappointing

I am a great fan of "Sex and the City," and was greatly looking forward to reading this book. What a disappointment! It was shallow, cliched, and rather boring. I gave it two stars because I did finish the book, but I would not recommend it.

Fun Chick Lit, Great Narrator

I was a little skeptical about listening to Mira Sorvino for a whole 5 hours, but she turned out to be a great narrator! Trading Up is a pretty standard chick lit book, with fun details about couture clothing and posh Hamptons parties (everything you'd expect from Candace Bushnell), but it also includes a hunky polo player and a great main character. Sorvino gives all of the characters great voices and she's a pleasure to listen to. Two thumbs up for an escapist listen!

Light and Fluffy

This was a very light book after reading the Da Vinci Code. So it was perfect for me.

Entertaining, Light, Well-Read

Preposterous at times, but lots of fun. No great message here, just a lot of intrigue and glamour. At times I felt sorry for the main character, at other times I found myself admiring her evil genius. Mira Sorvino does a great job reading, with credible impersonations of a variety of characters, both male and female. If you are looking for something light and entertaining, look no further.

Petty main character

The main character in this book is completely dislikable she does not have an ounce of good in her body. Think of the evil queen taking over the story of Cinderella and still getting her way and being adored by all her fans. The performance by Mira Sorvino is great that's why I gave it two stars .she really does get into making a character distinct through the voices and entonation.

Good Read

I was a little worried this was going to be full of Sex in the City. Nope just a good clean chick flick. Light and funny!

Not my thing

I had bought this book ages ago and never actually read it so i figured the audio version would be a good way of ticking it off my "to read list". I didn't realize it was abridged but after finishing it i don't think it would have mattered. I'm not a fan of so called "chick lit" and this type of book is why. I am all for light fluffy reading that you use to escape daily life but this character was just vapid and unlikeable to me. I was hoping very early on she'd fall off a yacht and drown in the Atlantic. Spoiler alert, that didn't happen. I can see it's appeal and i, in no way, begrudge someone liking this type of book. More power to you. Just not my thing.