Everything Worth Knowing

Title: Everyone Worth Knowing
Author: Lauren Weisberger
# of pages: 367

Review:

Bette Robinson works at UBS as an accountant, and spending long work hours doing mindless work bores her. One day, she suddenly decides to quit her job, though she admittedly has nothing in mind concerning her future prospects. She does, however, enjoy unemployed life and the immense freedom it brings.

Perhaps in an act as sudden as quitting her job, her trustworthy columnist Uncle Will lands her one at his ex-assistant's firm: a PR company specializing in planning events, with strong connections to the most prominent celebrities. She is an immediate success, meeting new faces, going to parties, and suddenly being part of the "cool" crowd - meaning, thinking nothing of a $1000 price tag, or enthusiastically keeping track of her place in the wait list for the next Hermes Birkin bag. However, as she soon finds out, all of her life is published onto accusatory tabloids, and appearances are often deceiving.

One of the things I noticed about this novel was that it bore strong resemblance to another, perhaps more well known, of Weisberger's works: The Devil Wears Prada. The main character experiments with a job that seems to bring great opportunities, only to realize how much it destroys her personal life and the relationships with the ones she loves most. Perhaps one of the few significant differences between the two storylines was that the characters landed on different jobs.

In all other respects, Weisberger has done an excellent job of documenting Bette's life throughout the course of the story. The storyline is imaginative, for the most part. Nevertheless, I found the conclusion quite disappointing - it seemed a bit rushed, when Bette's revenge against those who defamed her during her stint as a PR girl and her relationship with her new boyfriend a not as well-described as the rest of the novel.

A prime example of chick lit, Everyone Worth Knowing is recommended for all young women who enjoy reading the genre, but don't keep your hopes up for a good ending.

Screen Name: WaterfallOfDestiny
Branch: Angus Glen