Rating: 
Summary: not even worth a star
Review: I am sure those who published this book never read it!!
It's totally awful!!
I couldn't go from the second page on...
Don't buy it - it's throwing out your money!
Rating: 
Summary: What were you expecting? Henry Fielding?!
Review: I highly doubt that any of us went into reading this book for its literary content. In that assumption we were correct- this is no Gustave Flaubert or Jane Austen. Nor is it something that will cause you to engage in deep thinking (unless you count casual sex and the Hamptons to be deep thinking material). There are many things this book is not. However, there are many things that this book IS and I will choose to share those with you since other readers have bombarded you with numerous complaints about this book, which by now we are all familiar with. Candace Busnell's "Four Blondes" IS... 1. Full of dry, dark, sexual humor. One has only to look at the characters to see the irony- Janey Wilcox, possibly the most dependant character you will meet in your reading history, who's only goal in life is to find a wealthy man with a huge Hamptons home and an expensive but blonde-friendly car to live with over the summer. Winnie & James Dieke, journalists with celebrity connections, a failing marriage, and a cocaine problem (due to the celebrity connections). Princess Cecilia, obviously the wife of a prince, who is insecure in herself, her position in life, and her marriage (her husband's family wants her to be next Di. No brainer there). Finally you have an anonymous writer in a quest to find an Englishman decent in bed. 2. Amusement purposes. This is two of the stars- there are seriously some lines in here that are laugh-out-loud hilarious. Candace Bushnell is the Queen of one-liners. However, for all the humor and amusement that these pitiful and pathetic characters provide, the book barely salvages three stars. There are many things this book is not. I did not expect this book to be the greatest read of my life. However, I DID expect more fully developed characters and that is my main complaint with Ms. Bushnell. The characters seriously lacked development in several areas, making them at times too whiny and difficult to relate to. Amusing as they were, and they did have their lucid intervals of genius, I found them not up to par with the standard Bridget Jones, Becky Bloomwood, Jemima Jones. I was especially disappointed in the last of Bushnell's protagonists, the anonymous writer. She was very possibly the best developed character, and I was most unbelievably disappointed when her story was cut far too short. I could have read an entire book about HER instead of one crowded with mini novellas of three other psycopathic women. In short, this book is a guilty pleasure, and a guilty pleasure with a warning sign stamped across the front. If you are REALLY looking for an enjoyable read about smart, sexy women, read "Bridget Jones Diary", "Confessions of a Shopaholic", and/or "Jemima J", which are MUCH more well written novels. 3/5 stars. Be glad I gave you that, Ms. Bushnell.
Rating:
Summary: How did this author get a book contract?
Review: This book is a stupid waste of your time. I'm glad I didn't buy it and took it out from the library instead. The characters are, for the most part, insipid and superficial. The only story I was at all interested was Highlights for Adults, but it stopped abruptly before the plot could further develop. I don't know why she presented four different stories without intertwining them somehow--what's the point? Bushnell is neither a talented nor interesting writer. There is nothing special about her style or her characters. I read somewhere that Bushnell is writing a book about the obnoxious character Janey Wilcox from 4 Blondes. Ugh.
Rating:
Summary: Laughably Stupid
Review: Knowing Candace Bushnell isn't Shakespeare, I borrowed the book from the library for a good, trashy read on a sick day. I'm very glad I borrowed and didn't buy the book, because it's so ridiculous it made me feel ridiculous for reading it. The books' characters are parasites, pirahnas, and all-around pathetic creatures who think the world owes them something merely for being beautiful. Tom Wolfe also wrote about good-for-nothing socialites and other despicable people who populate New York City in "Bonfire of the Vanities," but he did it with style, well-crafted language, and a sense of humor. He pictured the world of privileged people who prey on others, but it was clear that he didn't condone their behavior. Just take a look at Bushnell's glamour-shot photo on the back cover and it's clear that she takes herself and her characters way too seriously. She's obviously the fifth blonde of the book, which is nothing to be proud of. If the book had been billed as a volume of short stories, which it is, it somehow would have been less disappointing. I suspect that Bushnell writes only in vignettes because she doesn't know the first thing about plot development. Each of the four stories in this book ends abruptly and weakly, as if Bushnell took part in some timed writing exercise and the teacher made her slam her notebook closed. She makes grasps at continuity by giving a few of her characters cameo appearances in a few of the stories, but the effect is as cloying as the chapter names, which refer to brands of hair dye and methods of dying hair. She also puts the same lines of dialogue in various characters' mouths in different stories. Lack of originality or a one-track mind--take your pick. To top it off, the book is riddled with typographical errors. Either the publisher didn't assign an editor to the book, or the editor realized what trash he or she hand been handed and realized that only a cursory review of the language was needed. Or maybe Bushnell herself edited the book. Its production is as poor as the writing. Bushnell has one other book on the market. This one is truly sophomoric through and through.
Rating:
Summary: A Poor Woman's "Sex & the City"
Review: I am a huge fan I am of the show "Sex & the City", so I bought this book expecting wit, humor, and a good read. I was sooo disappointed. I was forcing myself to read "4 Blondes" hoping that I would finally enjoy it after each page of dull and stupid material. Where was the intelligence I was hoping for?... I am still wondering. I hate all of the characters - they are shallow and completely one-dimensional, and each story was lacking... well, everything essential to a good book. Well, I hated this lousy excuse for a book - I would rather watch grass grow - ,but I picked up "Sex and the City", the book, and the book is like the show - minus humor, wit, intelligence, organization, and good writing. Let me just say Bushnell is very lucky to be a horrible writer with a famous name. I suppose I forgot that "Sex and the City" is only a show based from a Bushnell book, and that she herself doesn't write the wonderfully scripted show. Forget both Bushnell books and get the "Sex and the City" DVD.
Rating:
Summary: DEPRESSING
Review: I ABSOLUTELY HATE THIS BOOK.I COULDN'T WAIT TO PUT IT DOWN. HOW DID IT GET PUBLISHED.
Rating:
Summary: Regrettable...
Review: I found myself questioning my purchase of this one. After reading this collection of stories about four different New York women--who are blonde (duh), I found myself thinking about how much time I wasted by the end. I love "Sex & the City" (the show--I didn't enjoy the book as much) and thought Bushnell might have an interesting novel. I was wrong. By the end of reading about these four sorry women I wanted to call it "4 Dumb Blondes." Borrow it from someone, check it out from the library, but don't waste your money--like I did.
Rating:
Summary: 4 Pathetic Blondes...
Review: Knowing of Candace Bushnell only through the HBO version of Sex and the City, I had high expectations for this book. To say the very least, my expectations were not met. The four women featured in the book were completely unlikeable and ridiculous. Their shared trait, aside from being blonde, is that they are willing to prostitute themselves in order to improve their image. The stories seemed to be incomplete, yet I was not left wanting more -- I was just glad that I was one story closer to the end. The book was depressing rather than witty and amusing as I had expected. I can only imagine that the publication of this book was the result of having a successful television series with which to associate the author. Don't be fooled as I was -- this is no "Sex and the City."
Rating:
Summary: a vapid waste of time
Review: Is Candace Bushnell a misogynist? Because in this "novel," she writes her characters as shallow, vapid, worthless [women] who do little more than waste space and complain, though not in that order. I got through the first story waiting for it to become interesting. It didn't. I threw the book in the trash where it belongs. I'm highly disappointed--I loved some of her other work but this one is truly horrible. Don't bother. I'd have given it zero stars, but that wasn't an option. Reading the bathroom wall at your local convent would be more stimulating than "4 Blondes."
Rating: 
Summary: FOUR STARS FOR FOUR BLONDES!
Review: I loved this book and am a bit mystified that so many other readers have slammed it the way they have! I think I can go someway to clearing this up - this book is a satire, folks! A satire that's as sharp and as vicious at dissecting the lives of the super-rich Manhattan glitterati as Bret Easton Ellis' American Pyscho was a decade earlier. Anyone who read Sex And The City (read the book, NOT the TV show which paints an entirely different picture) would know what to expect here. The fact that we care at ALL about these people goes some way to explaining Miss Bushnell's superior skills as a writer and moralist. This book is fun and ultimately, very, very dark! I keep picking it up ever since I first read it (Blonde 2 Winnie Dieke was my favourite) and I wait for baited breath for her next novel. Superb.
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