Reading Sex and the City

by Kim Akass (Editor), Janet McCabe (Editor)

HBO's hit series Sex and the City has a huge international fan base and has picked up major awards. This highly readable critical celebration of the life and times of Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha looks at the series as a new departure for television. It discusses the show's position in an increasingly complex television landscape, and pioneers innovative approaches to the study of contemporary television culture. The book explores, among many other issues, female fandom and fan culture; fashion and fashion journalism; male archetypes and the search for Mr. Right; third wave feminism; and of course, sex and the single girl. The book includes a full episode guide, reports from the Sex and the City Manhattan tour and a map of Sex and the City New York.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Pop Culture

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Tatiana Jimenez]

I was pleasantly surprised to find this book quite challenging to read. Originally what I thought would be a quick read: a pop-analytical look at the cultural relevance of Sex and the City... but it was quite academic. At times I felt the essays were written at doctorate dissertation level. As a former Film and Media Studies student, this book made me nostalgic for my days in Television class. I recommend this book if you enjoy diving deeper into one of your favorite tv shows and picking it apart.

[hannah]

Amazing that this is my diss reading. My head’s gone

[Aleksandra Radišić]

Procitala sam par poglavlja, interesantna knjiga sa više razlicitih eseja koji se bave serijom i koja je iz 2004. godine kada se i emitovala poslednja sezona. Bili su dosta analitični, što mi se i svidelo, i danas nakon više od 20 godina (😳) se i slažem sa tim analizama.

[Shant]

Why they chose to publish this before the sixth season aired is beyond me, but otherwise it's pretty good. It gave me FOMO for not buying the series at a library sale.

[Iris Windmeijer]

A really great guide to Sex and the City, shining a light on every aspect of the series. Very helpful for my essay.

[Ceri]

The ultimate guide to fashion and femininity in Sex and the City.

[Aisyah Yusof]

Whilst writing my thesis during my final year in university on post-feminism and it's portrayal in hit tv series Sex and the City, this book became my new best friend. Often disregarded for yet another SATC book, it turns out to be quite the contrary. It is academic and provides powerful insights of gender and cultural studies. It dissects, analyses and explores the many facets of the characters and relationships Candace Bushnell has so cleverly crafted. Highly recommend this book to every woman in love with Louboutin's, Manolo's and Cosmopolitans, as there is so much more that meets the eye when it comes to Bradshaw and her posse.

[Violet]

I really enjoyed this book (I've read it several times). Its an anthology dissecting the series against socio-cultural observations and norms. Like other readers, I thought it would be a fun, quick book to breeze through. I was wrong, it is written at an academic level and reads more like a textbook than a novel.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who studies Anthropology or sociology who also likes Sex and the City.

[Loreley]

If I was interested in Sex and the City, i probably would've found this book more interesting. As it was, though I read it only to get some ref work for my thesis, ditched the fashion bit, and read only the gender stuff. It's not that it's bad, and some good points are made there, it's just that I find the show so tedious, that I couldn't really enjoy a book that dealt with it.

[Flávia Carvalho]

Only for truly obsessed fans

[Robyn]

Boring...a break down of what the author thinks a scene or episode is about...as if they were real people.

[Müge]

Over-reading SaTC. It was a difficult and bland read. Felt too academical.

[Bridget]

Read for an independent project in "Women & gender in popular media." meh.