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The author of the best-selling The First Wives Club offers a satirical look at fame and fashion on the Hollywood scene, dominated by sycophants, gossips, and back-stabbers. Reprint.
880 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 1993
113 people are currently reading
673 people want to read
About the author
Olivia Goldsmith
47 books155 followersOlivia Goldsmith (January 1, 1949 - January 15, 2004) was an American author, best known for her first novel The First Wives Club (1992), which was adapted into the movie The First Wives Club (1996).
She was born Randy Goldfield in Dumont, New Jersey, but changed her name to Justine Goldfield and later to Justine Rendal. She took up writing following a divorce in which she said her husband got almost everything (including her Jaguar and the country house). A graduate of New York University, she was a partner at the management consultants Booz & Company in New York prior to becoming a writer.
Many of her books can be described as revenge fantasies; a constant theme is the mistreatment of women by the men they love, but with the women coming out the winners in the end.
Controversially, in late 1996 Goldsmith said, in response to an Entertainment Weekly reporter's question, that her favorite event of 1996 was when Bob Dole fell off a stage during a campaign function.
She also wrote several books for children, which were published under the name "Justine Rendal."
Goldsmith died as a result of complications from the administration of anaesthesia before cosmetic surgery. Her final two books were published posthumously.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, amended.
She was born Randy Goldfield in Dumont, New Jersey, but changed her name to Justine Goldfield and later to Justine Rendal. She took up writing following a divorce in which she said her husband got almost everything (including her Jaguar and the country house). A graduate of New York University, she was a partner at the management consultants Booz & Company in New York prior to becoming a writer.
Many of her books can be described as revenge fantasies; a constant theme is the mistreatment of women by the men they love, but with the women coming out the winners in the end.
Controversially, in late 1996 Goldsmith said, in response to an Entertainment Weekly reporter's question, that her favorite event of 1996 was when Bob Dole fell off a stage during a campaign function.
She also wrote several books for children, which were published under the name "Justine Rendal."
Goldsmith died as a result of complications from the administration of anaesthesia before cosmetic surgery. Her final two books were published posthumously.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, amended.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
October 22, 2008
Okay, I will admit, this is trash. Total, utter, gooey smutty trash. It's like reading a big stack of trashy tabloids while eating chocolate covered cherries for 3 hours straight - yummy and terribly bad for you and it makes you feel sort of empty and dirty after you finish it, but in a good way. If that makes sense.
But I read this book over and over in high school, because it was such GOOD trash - like Judith Krantz good, only even more over the freakin' top. Damn. Now I just want to go read it again.
But I read this book over and over in high school, because it was such GOOD trash - like Judith Krantz good, only even more over the freakin' top. Damn. Now I just want to go read it again.
May 6, 2012
This is Classic Trash with a CAPITAL T, and I mean that in the best way possible! The summer I read this I was working with a group of women, and we just passed it around. Hysterical. It's like "Soapdish" if it were rated X!
October 14, 2012
One of my favorite guilty pleasure reads from years ago. Mindless trashy fun in the style of Sidney Sheldon and Jackie Collins. Sometimes it's fun to just turn off your brain and veg out with a book like this.
June 14, 2016
How can I get the 13 hours it took me to read this back? I should have stopped reading at 30%, but I kept thinking that this is Olivia Goldsmith -it HAS to get better, right?
It was bad enough that you needed a score card to remember all the character's in this dreck book, but the whining of the main character's got me to the point that I had hoped they had all had something terrible happen to them.
Poor them-they are lovely, they are popular, they are making million's - my heart bleeds. Yes they have no privacy, but choosing this career path was, as I said-a choice.
To make matters for me worse, I went to amazon while still on my Kindle to read the reviews to see if anyone thought the same as I did -and one of the reviewers ruined a VERY important plot point.
The book does seem to pick up at the 75%, but by then I was skimming for good parts and it really got interesting at the end. However, it was mostly ruined by Jahnes' whining (love that spelling *rolling my eyes*good grief)
Stay far, far away even though it only costs $2.99 on Kindle and on Nook!
It was bad enough that you needed a score card to remember all the character's in this dreck book, but the whining of the main character's got me to the point that I had hoped they had all had something terrible happen to them.
Poor them-they are lovely, they are popular, they are making million's - my heart bleeds. Yes they have no privacy, but choosing this career path was, as I said-a choice.
To make matters for me worse, I went to amazon while still on my Kindle to read the reviews to see if anyone thought the same as I did -and one of the reviewers ruined a VERY important plot point.
The book does seem to pick up at the 75%, but by then I was skimming for good parts and it really got interesting at the end. However, it was mostly ruined by Jahnes' whining (love that spelling *rolling my eyes*good grief)
Stay far, far away even though it only costs $2.99 on Kindle and on Nook!
November 15, 2010
I really, really love this book, more than is healthy--this book is proof that I could totally be an idiot, I could definitely be a serious moron, and this is why I must remain constantly vigilant.
September 15, 2015
One of the best reads of the biz. Full review:
http://sleaze-factor.blogspot.ca/2015...
http://sleaze-factor.blogspot.ca/2015...
October 29, 2017
This was the first Olivia Goldsmith's book I have read,Though it was interesting but it was just too voluminous...I give this 3 star.
September 30, 2021
A rags to riches story about life in Hollywood the characters are what has captivated me.good character development.
Read
October 2, 2022This book was like reading a 600-page episode of Entertainment Tonight. No, wait - TMZ. Goldsmith writes about Hollywood - the ugly side of the beautiful people. To launch a cosmetic line, a room full of power players concoct the ultimate marketing plan: a 60s nostalgia tv show, filmed by a movie director, featuring three debuting bombshells...riding motorcycles! Brilliant, a can't-fail formula. Or is it? Of course not! Rife with scandal of all kinds, the book made me feel dirty while reading it. Specifically, I felt gross because my fascination with the book is part of what fuels the industry. That I was complicit in it by providing an audience.
I like Olivia Goldsmith's writing and am glad I stumbled upon her three or four years ago. This book was not my favorite (I liked PEN PALS or DUMPING BILLY more). It could have been at least 200 pages shorter and the narrator device is completely unnecessary.
That said, there are many things in this book that are true, especially in regard to beauty and relationships. I just checked the copyright on this one: 1994. In 1994 Goldsmith also had a pretty good idea of where television was headed.
I like Olivia Goldsmith's writing and am glad I stumbled upon her three or four years ago. This book was not my favorite (I liked PEN PALS or DUMPING BILLY more). It could have been at least 200 pages shorter and the narrator device is completely unnecessary.
That said, there are many things in this book that are true, especially in regard to beauty and relationships. I just checked the copyright on this one: 1994. In 1994 Goldsmith also had a pretty good idea of where television was headed.
July 26, 2014
Good vacation read (exactly the purpose of reading it - it was in my stack of paperbacks at the summer house) but I remembered why I frequently get annoyed with these kinds of books - 700-and-something-odd pages - which leads to endless repetitions and carries the reader to mind-numbingly obvious conclusions. Furthermore, there where small, but annoying continuity problems in regard to such issues as, for instance, tans and diets. Attempts to be clever with puns - one about Great Expectations comes to mind - fell flat, and besides the idea of Miss Havisham and Estella was mercilessly reused several times.
While later events in the book provided a few twists the bulk of consequences and unveilings were obvious from the beginning. Not much was unexpected or particularly original.
I wish I could recommend it since the writing is good, and a fair bit of research has gone into it. Perhaps my view of the book is somewhat biased by its publication date in the early nineties, as a good amount of trivial literature from the time suffers from the same problems with repetition, complete lack of subtlety and points hammered home by mallets.
While later events in the book provided a few twists the bulk of consequences and unveilings were obvious from the beginning. Not much was unexpected or particularly original.
I wish I could recommend it since the writing is good, and a fair bit of research has gone into it. Perhaps my view of the book is somewhat biased by its publication date in the early nineties, as a good amount of trivial literature from the time suffers from the same problems with repetition, complete lack of subtlety and points hammered home by mallets.
July 30, 2011
Olivia Goldsmith, what a legend!
Flavour of the month, was a complete page turner, long read but worth every moment.
Full of behind the scenes of the Hollywood world.
Sharleen, Jahne (Mary Jane) & Lila, were three characters, that you really get to know, that life is not all peaches and cream, and not what it all seems. You do fall in love with these three unique and precious charcters.
Overall 'Flavour of the month' is an exciting, sad, funny and a very interesting facade of what Hollywood is really like, in the cut throat business. l shall say you who not be disappointed with the ending, it has an amazing twist .
Flavour of the month, was a complete page turner, long read but worth every moment.
Full of behind the scenes of the Hollywood world.
Sharleen, Jahne (Mary Jane) & Lila, were three characters, that you really get to know, that life is not all peaches and cream, and not what it all seems. You do fall in love with these three unique and precious charcters.
Overall 'Flavour of the month' is an exciting, sad, funny and a very interesting facade of what Hollywood is really like, in the cut throat business. l shall say you who not be disappointed with the ending, it has an amazing twist .
September 12, 2013
Who doesn't love an over the top 'makeover' that results in someone who is plain and ordinary becoming the hottest woman on the planet! This book would make wonderful reality TV. Poor Mary Jane - she’s both ‘Beauty’ and ‘the Beast.’ Thankfully plastic surgery has gotten much better over the years!! I love the advice Mary Jane’s wardrobe/stylist gives her on being ‘beautiful.’ It’s pure camp.
June 22, 2012
Exactly what I would do with all that money!
June 15, 2017
Dated but a good story.
December 17, 2019
I have read this book countless times; I cannot get enough. I first read it when I was 12, maybe 13, and I enjoy it just as much 20 years later!
February 7, 2025
Is this a great work of literary art? No. Is it a lot of fun? Yes.
I first read this many years ago when my flight had been delayed for hours. This is the perfect book for that—I was tired and irritated, and it didn’t involve straining a single brain cell. Some parts of this are dated, but since much of this is how Hollywood and America in general perceives beauty, particularly when it comes to women, that part, sadly, is still mostly true. Some things have changed, of course, but the message about what’s on the inside and not always recognizing our own beauty (both inner and outer), holds a lot of truth.
This is a long but fast read about three women who make it in Hollywood. They all have a lot of secrets about what happened before they got there . . .
I first read this many years ago when my flight had been delayed for hours. This is the perfect book for that—I was tired and irritated, and it didn’t involve straining a single brain cell. Some parts of this are dated, but since much of this is how Hollywood and America in general perceives beauty, particularly when it comes to women, that part, sadly, is still mostly true. Some things have changed, of course, but the message about what’s on the inside and not always recognizing our own beauty (both inner and outer), holds a lot of truth.
This is a long but fast read about three women who make it in Hollywood. They all have a lot of secrets about what happened before they got there . . .
December 4, 2020
Too long, some of the same pacing issues that plagued the first book (mostly relating to the passage time), and there's a plot involving a trans character that is definitely not up to today's standards (not that it was great in 1993, either). I haven't reread this book for a long time, and I was reminded why it's always been my least favorite of Goldsmith's novels. Maybe worth revisiting for the nostalgia factor, and a page-turner (even at 700 pages long, I finished it in two days), but I would never recommend a new reader picking it up today.
May 19, 2022
Caveat on the rating - I'm rating it based on how I felt 15-20 years ago when I read it because I read it in high school and re-read it in my early 20s - it's pure escapist trash, but I LOVED it.
I think my tastes are (maybe!) more discerning now, but I loved all OG's books back in the day and would still totally enjoy them as a beach read. I actually still think about this book, and "The Bestseller" randomly to this day, 20 years later.
I think my tastes are (maybe!) more discerning now, but I loved all OG's books back in the day and would still totally enjoy them as a beach read. I actually still think about this book, and "The Bestseller" randomly to this day, 20 years later.
October 1, 2018
LONG book, but I loved The First Wives Club and wanted something light. This had drama and substance and surprise....all tied in to women and beauty. Sadly, the author died of complications of plastic surgery.
January 13, 2020
I first read this when I was 14, probably a little too young but since I had lots of V.C. Andrews novels under my belt it had minimal impact. I still love this book; it's fluffy with just the right amount of trashy. Characters really stick around.
April 5, 2022
Fun book
Despite the transphobia, which I guess was par for the course when it was written, this is a fun and well written book. It has some callbacks to her most famous book, First Wives Club.
Despite the transphobia, which I guess was par for the course when it was written, this is a fun and well written book. It has some callbacks to her most famous book, First Wives Club.
November 21, 2024
Ooof, that did not hold up well. Like most of the 80s hollywood trash, it was filled with outdated ideas and prejudices and was really hard to read. However, it was dishy and I finished it (all 1048 pages), so I gave it 2 stars instead of 1.
April 5, 2018
If this book had been at least 100 pages shorter, it might have been enjoyable trash. It wasn’t.
July 3, 2019
Pulpy, ludicrous, and ridiculous.
August 9, 2019
Read this some time ago...
January 16, 2020
Interesting insight to Hollywood!
May 5, 2021
Completely bonkers, some cringey bits, but also very entertaining. Preferred the bookseller .
June 16, 2022
This was the perfect beach read!!!
May 4, 2023
The book was quite depressing except for the ending. Not prepared for that.
June 12, 2024
This wasn't a great literary work but it was a fun read. I thought it was too long and would have given it 3 stars but the ending saved it! So many reveals that it's just stunning! What a fun ride!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews