When Rona Jaffes superb page-turner was first published in 1958, it changed contemporary fiction forever. Some readers were shocked, but millions ...
read full description
reviews
Aug 26, 2007
Pdxstacey
rated it: 
You know that feeling when you get a book and after the first few pages you realize it's going to be great? That's this book. I could not put it down and finished it in less than 24 hours.
I am shocked this was written in the 50's. I am also annoyed I did not read this book when I lived in NY. I woke up early on a sunday (around 6am) and finished it.
This is chick lit before there was chick lit. Better than Valley of the Dolls, better than Candace Bushnell (althoug More...
I am shocked this was written in the 50's. I am also annoyed I did not read this book when I lived in NY. I woke up early on a sunday (around 6am) and finished it.
This is chick lit before there was chick lit. Better than Valley of the Dolls, better than Candace Bushnell (althoug More...
2 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Nov 06, 2011
Iris
rated it:
Try to resist a book that opens with a breathy evocation of Monday morning, 9 o'clock, when thousands of girls emerge from Grand Central Station and subway exits, some in kidskin gloves and pomaded locks, some in torn dirty white gloves and a kerchief hiding their pincurls, all walking towards the skyscrapers where they fill steno pools.
The tension in this scene, ostensibly, lies between professional ambition and marital aspiration: "The Best of Everything" was published in More...
The tension in this scene, ostensibly, lies between professional ambition and marital aspiration: "The Best of Everything" was published in More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 16, 2011
Rachel
rated it: 
When The Best of Everything was published in 1958, the cover price was 50 cents, and if it still sold for that today it would be way overpriced. I can't remember the last time I hated a book this much. I bear so much hostility for this book that I am practically giddy.
This is the story of four women who work for Fabian Publishing in New York in the early '50s. Ostensibly, Caroline is the smart ambitious one who wants to be an editor, April is the naive country girl who comes to th More...
This is the story of four women who work for Fabian Publishing in New York in the early '50s. Ostensibly, Caroline is the smart ambitious one who wants to be an editor, April is the naive country girl who comes to th More...
5 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Dec 02, 2007
Anne
rated it: 
In the preface to the new edition of this 1958 bestseller, author Rona Jaffe tells us that The Best of Everything is now "a sociological document," and it is certainly that: a pre-feminist era look at career girls (typists, editors, and actresses) in New York. I found myself fascinated by just how much -- and how little -- has changed for women as they search for "success" (friendship, work, love, marriage) in the city. Her portrayal of the book publishing industry also str
More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Feb 24, 2009
Lisa
rated it: 
This book was written in 1958, so it is extremely dated. But I like Rona Jaffe, so I thought I'd give it a try. The story is of a group of young women who come to New York because they want exciting lives. They meet at a publishing house, and it talks about what turn their lives take. What I found interesting was the portrayal of blatant sexual harassment on the job. I remember the 1980s and it was bad, but not like this. In the 1950s, men thought any woman in the office was fair game, and she h
More...
Jun 22, 2011
Fleur
rated it: 
Wednesday 2nd January 1952; 8.45am; New York City:
“You see them every morning at a quarter to nine, rushing out of the maw of the subway tunnel, filing out of Grand Central Station, crossing Lexington and Park and Madison and Fifth avenues, the hundreds and hundreds of girls. Some of them look eager and some look resentful, and some look as if they haven’t left their beds yet. Some of them have been up since six-thirty in the morning, the ones who commute from Brooklyn and Yonkers and More...
“You see them every morning at a quarter to nine, rushing out of the maw of the subway tunnel, filing out of Grand Central Station, crossing Lexington and Park and Madison and Fifth avenues, the hundreds and hundreds of girls. Some of them look eager and some look resentful, and some look as if they haven’t left their beds yet. Some of them have been up since six-thirty in the morning, the ones who commute from Brooklyn and Yonkers and More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 08, 2011
Julia
rated it:
"You see them every morning at a quarter to nine, rushing out of the maw of the subway tunnel, filing out of Grand Central Station, crossing Lexington and Park and Madison and Fifth avenues, the hundreds and hundreds of girls. Some of them look eager and some look resentful, and some of them look as if they haven’t left their beds yet. Some of them have been up since six-thirty in the morning, the ones who commute from Brooklyn and Yonkers and New Jersey and Staten Island and Connecticut. T
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
May 12, 2011
Judy
rated it:
Here is another novel from the 1950s telling us that lots more sex went on than we were led to believe and that what women really want is love and a husband. It is a mildly entertaining story. Set in the office of a publishing company and following the lives of four young women, it has been called the Sex and the City of the 50s.
Rona Jaffe wrote the novel, her first, when she was 24, a recent graduate of Radcliffe, working as an associate editor at Fawcett Publications. The wri More...
Mar 23, 2011
Amanda
rated it:
Have you ever read a book and as you got to the end you wanted to read more slowly because you just didn't want the book to end? That's how I was feeling when I was ambling toward the end of The Best of Everything. I LOVE stories from the mid-century because the 1950s, and the ensuing suburban discontent, is just fascinating to me. (Yeah, I love Mad Men.) I would have given the book five stars, but sadly, while the book started out well, I was really disappointed by the ending. It felt rush
More...
Feb 21, 2011
Roberta
rated it:
Il meglio della vita per le protagoniste di questo romanzo è il matrimonio con l'uomo che amano. Questo ha fatto rabbrividere qualche lettrice ma secondo me non siamo molto lontani dai giorni nostri, pur essendo questo romanzo ambientato sì a New York, ma negli anni Cinquanta. Per quanto oggi il matrimonio rappresenti un accessorio più che una necessità, credo che sia ancora valido l'universale anelito alla vita con qualcuno che amiamo e che ci ami, e che ci rispetti ovviamente. Se oggi il rispe
More...
Sep 16, 2009
I learned about Rona Jaffe's book when I saw her featured on the premier episode of Hugh Heffner's "Playboy After Dark" television show from 1959. I would have expected Jaffe, as a featured guest in a media outlet that was ostensibly all about hedonistic independence, to author some pulp that was more sex-in-the-city than urban betty (to her credit, this book was the inspiration for Sex in the City). But strangely, all five narrative plotlines revolved around young women's obsessions w
More...
Jun 07, 2009
Susan
rated it:
I'm not sure what it is about 1950s New York chick lit that I enjoy so, but it's a world full of crinolines and gloves, highballs (which are what liquor, exactly), endless parades of cocktails and brandies, and men and women who banter like hell afire. It's always a world where people are known by their last name and hometown (oh yes, the Cleveland Smiths) and everyone seems to have gone to the same dozen colleges.
This book follows a group of twenty-something "career girls" More...
This book follows a group of twenty-something "career girls" More...
Dec 17, 2009
Yvonne
rated it:
Ok, it's a soap but it's quality soap. Characters that resonate, a glimpse into world of the generation of women who laid the groundwork for my generation to get jobs and expect to be treated equally (yes, I know it hasn't quite happened like that but we have to keep trying). The ending isn't quite as good the rest of the book, it sprints to a conclusion and is less convincing than other parts of the book but it's still an excellent read, which is what this site is about isn't it?
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 05, 2011
Melee
rated it:
This was Summer at Tiffany meets The Country Girls Trilogy.
It was Summer at Tiffany for its evocation of the 50's and the working girls of that era... only drastically less innocent. And it was The Country Girls Trilogy because it inspired the same hopeless feeling that it is impossible to have a good relationship with a male. I found The Best of Everything to be just as painful in that respect, if not much worse. At least the female relationships were better, though.
It pertur More...
It was Summer at Tiffany for its evocation of the 50's and the working girls of that era... only drastically less innocent. And it was The Country Girls Trilogy because it inspired the same hopeless feeling that it is impossible to have a good relationship with a male. I found The Best of Everything to be just as painful in that respect, if not much worse. At least the female relationships were better, though.
It pertur More...
Jan 24, 2009
Lani
rated it:
I've been slacking on my GoodReads reviews, but I had to write about this book, which really grabbed me from the beginning - I was surprised that I identified so strongly with it, given that it was written and set in the 50's. It follows the lives of 5 young women who work in Manhattan in the typing pool of a publishing company with various motivations and dreams - back when being a "career girl" was not something most women aspired to. The relationships between the girls are very re
More...
Jun 05, 2011
GillyP
rated it:
I’ve wanted to read this book ever since Don Draper was seen with a copy, and the influences on Mad Men are plain; many of the characters in this book - about a group of girls coming to New York in 1952, in search of new lives but ultimately, in search of marriageable men - are instantly recognisable to a Mad Men aficionado.
It’s an old book, the author - a young girl when it was written - is now dead, consequently, it's somewhat dated, but it’s age shows in the content, the attitudes More...
It’s an old book, the author - a young girl when it was written - is now dead, consequently, it's somewhat dated, but it’s age shows in the content, the attitudes More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
May 06, 2009
Beth
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Nov 22, 2011
Daffy
rated it:
The Best of Everything is a ground-breaking and genre-creating novel that follows five young women starting out in the world after college and traces their excitement, their hopes, their fears and their knock-backs. When I started reading the book I felt a huge wave of warmth for the innocence and naievety of both the times and the characters but as I read more I became increasingly irritated by this same innocence and naievety, and I was only able to get half way through. The quality of writin
More...
Aug 28, 2008
Marie
rated it:
I got four chapters into this book, then gave up. It's facile and predictable.
In her 2005 foreword, Rona Jaffe said: "I was so proud of the fact that my publisher made no revisions except for grammar and spelling.... The book was published less than a year after I left my parents, got my own apartment, and began it." I think that sums up just about everything that's wrong with this book.
In her 2005 foreword, Rona Jaffe said: "I was so proud of the fact that my publisher made no revisions except for grammar and spelling.... The book was published less than a year after I left my parents, got my own apartment, and began it." I think that sums up just about everything that's wrong with this book.
2 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
May 23, 2011
Jaclyn
rated it:
This book was absolutely fascinating. For a plot that takes place in the 1950s, I was surprised to see as much scandal and sex. This edition had a 2005ish forward by Jaffe, and she shares that she wrote the book for a producer looking for a book to convert to a film. He was unable to find a book about a 1950s career woman, and Jaffe volunteered to write it, interviewing 50some working women in her research.
Which tells me: Some of the craziness in "The Best of Everything" is More...
Which tells me: Some of the craziness in "The Best of Everything" is More...
Jan 04, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
This book has accurately been described as Sex in the City meets Mad Men. It portrays the trials of 5 mid century New York working girl facing competition, sexual harassment and romantic lives that are really not too different from the present. The thing that keeps the reader firmly in the 1950's, besides the hats and the gloves, is the way Jaffe captures the desperation of the unprotected women. Women today still worry about losing a job or a relationship but the prospect does not seem as peril
More...
Aug 07, 2010
Keirstan
rated it:
Rona Jaffe’s 1958 bestselling novel of career girls in New York City is a definite page turner. THE BEST OF EVERYTHING is juicy and filled with “I can’t believe she did that” moments, but also developed with enough acumen to create an intriguing and empathetic cast of characters. The now classic story covers a pivotal point in a woman’s life, the period of time when the dust of childhood begins to settle and one is ushered into adulthood. While this book is not something I would typically gra
More...
Jun 20, 2011
Paola
rated it:
(My review written for Amazon UK)
“The Best of Everything” starts well and is, at first, a very engaging read. The first few chapters introduce us to the character of Caroline Bender and her first weeks as a typist at Fabian publishing. Gradually, the other three main female characters appear, as well as a host of other ‘extras’: colleagues, friends, terrible dates, boyfriends and families. However, of the four main female characters, it really is Caroline who gets the most ‘screen ti More...
“The Best of Everything” starts well and is, at first, a very engaging read. The first few chapters introduce us to the character of Caroline Bender and her first weeks as a typist at Fabian publishing. Gradually, the other three main female characters appear, as well as a host of other ‘extras’: colleagues, friends, terrible dates, boyfriends and families. However, of the four main female characters, it really is Caroline who gets the most ‘screen ti More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Sep 23, 2010
AG
rated it:
Burn your SATC DVDs! Cancel your season pass to "Mad Men"! Sell back your Dawn Powell omnibus to The Strand! Forget you ever heard of Jay McInerney! No matter what anyone has written about the "gay, mad" single life in New York, Rona Jaffe wrote it first, and wrote it better (and with more flair). This book was brilliant, witty, sophisticated, and utterly captivating (though the ending was so bad I almost took away a star -- thank Carrie Bradshaw the preceding 415pp. were so
More...
Apr 03, 2009
Brenna
rated it:
I think every young woman should read this. I feel I've taken for granted the post-women's lib environment I've grown up in. This book takes place only a couple decades after women got the right to vote and way before women were common in the professional world. Definitely read the introduction by the author. She was on a mission to write women honestly without the sugarcoating that was expected at the time. Although it's set in the 5o's, the characters ask heavy questions of Life and have
More...
Jul 05, 2011
Jill
rated it:
This page-turner appeared decades ago to capture the stories of that massive section of the human race known as the working girl. In this case, the backdrop is a New York publishing house in the early 1950s. Though the world for the female characters in the book is split between the married and unmarried and the pressure to remain a virgin is astounding, the book resonates with truths that still apply.
Women still had to choose between the challenges of work and the extreme pressure to More...
Women still had to choose between the challenges of work and the extreme pressure to More...
Aug 03, 2011
Mary
rated it:
I really enjoyed this book. And, other than the constant anxiety over birth control and the secret abortion, it felt utterly up-to-date and modern. I really felt for all the characters - dopey April in love with a complete waster, sensible, ambitious Caroline who turns out to have been in love with her first boyfriend all along, single mother Barbara whose married man actually does leave his wife for her and poor obsessive Gregg. Rather the way the characters in Sex and the City are supposed to
More...
Feb 01, 2012
Kat
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jun 16, 2011
Clare
rated it:
Great book, almost gave it 5* - one of those books you couldn't put down (always good). Told the story of 5 girls working for a NY publishers in the 50s.... lots of smoking, cocktails and more sex than you would have thought in the pre-contraceptive era. They are also sooooo young. Times have changed for women and this book is seen being read in Mad Men. They had to make a choice between career and marriage in a way that women today don't. The good thing was that men paid for all those cock
More...
Oct 19, 2011
Susan
rated it:
Struggled to finish this book last night and finally did it. At first I really liked it, the writing was easy and it was easy to relate to the characters until they developed more into very insecure marriage-obsessed girls who cannot stand on their own two feet. I realize that the time it was written was very different then it is today, but I was hoping there would be a bigger message in the book then there was. It dragged on quite a bit those last 10 or so chapters and the ending let something
More...
