A Book Engagement with Ms. Bushnell

One of the top interviews I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing happened to me without much planning. A friend had mentioned a notable author was planning on visiting Vroman's in Pasadena, as part of her book tour. The book was called "One Fifth Avenue," and the author was Candace Bushnell. Though not much for being starstruck, as it happened, I was a longtime fan of Bushnell and so, felt more thrilled for that interview than any other before. Just to give you a little perspective, all but one season of Bushnell's Sex and the City still sits among my other DVDs. My current Calvin Klein comforter is the same exact one Carrie Bradshaw used for the entire series (total coincidence though folks, I got mine before I knew about the show). A former New York Observer columnist-turned iconic author, Bushnell and her novels have grown to epitomize today's redefined portrayals of brazen and self-reliant female bunch.  

When I first laid eyes on the lovely Bushnell, she was slenderly framed in a pleated, sleeveless dress and sporting black Manolo Blahniks, no less, as she read from a beginning chapter in her book. "I love their world," said Bushnell later about the characters. She mentions that she lives in the neighborhood where the actual One Fifth Avenue building is located. "I think the book captures the small-town aspect of New York City," Bushnell remarked. "It creates its own little world." Her latest prose, "One Fifth Avenue," explores the lives of five ambitious women who take up residence at the posh One Fifth Avenue in New York City—a co-op notorious for its real estate exclusivity. 


She was a big reader since the young age of three and today sometimes writes for 12 hours of the day. Bushnell, who admitted she loved reading "sentimental" stories like Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary and William Somerset Maugham. "There's a part of fiction writing that is no conscious (thinking) - one that cannot be explained," she told her audience.



Afterward, her audience, comprised of giggly fashionistas, moms, and believe it or not, straight guys holding stacks of her books (ok, probably for their girlfriends, wives and mothers), waited in line for the 30-year-veteran writer to offer her greeting and a much-prized signature. I lingered just long enough to get my seven-minute chat with the best-selling novelist/producer before her publicist dragged her away, probably to some exotic new city or destination to continue a fabulous chic city life made infamous by Candace Bushnell.

"Hi, I'm Candace, nice to meet you." Candace was extremely friendly - despite the fact that I immediately felt her sizing me up in that moment - thankfully I had dressed stylishly appropriately for that interlude and felt confident in my appearance. She is from Connecticut (she came to the city in 1979 as a 19 year old) but has a semblance of accent, elongating many of her vowels when she wants to emphasize something she's saying. 

Funny, during the Q&A part of her reading, I'd been the one to pose the question, "Is she wearing her Manolos tonight?" She looked right in my eyes, smiled and asked, "Are you the reporter interviewing me later?" Petite that I am, I'm 5'2" on a good day ... Candace was incredibly tiny in real life - let's be honest, she is rocking the body of a 25-year-old. Her hair is professionally colored but she is not fake-looking. For one, she is not busty like a lot of successful or in-the-spotlight women these days (ahem, Girls Next Door) but that's the point! Her body looks better for not trying to fit into the flippant status quo that so many women fall into for their own insecure and shallow neuroses. She's an embodiment of the city better known as New York City, she has written innumerable columns and five books about her city. That said, Candace was perfectly comfortable interacting with me with a mere four inches between our faces. To be frank, the whole thing ended faster than I realized - but I was happy, I'd finally met someone I admired and was ready for for my next adventure.



photos by Sarah McClure.