I'll Take Manhattan

Rating:
Summary: I'll take it without the ending
Review: *spoilers*

I'll Take Manhattan was a great read, minus a few things - mainly Maxi's first husband, Rocco. I didn't enjoy his character at all and the interactions they had were weird and implausible. I would have preferred if Maxi were to remain "happily unmarried" as her mother put it, or find a man she could STAY with.

Things seemed to unravel in the last 20 pages or so, as if Krantz were tired of the story and stuck on a rushed 'happy' ending. Wasn't India and Toby enough? Maxi grew and matured so much in the year the main story takes place, and then she goes back to that loser? Also, Angelica seemed a little TOO smart for her age. Aside from those minor points, I loved the story - the backstory into Maxi's parents and seeing Cutter get his especially.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad.... but...
Review: I heard so much about Judith Krantz work, that I thought I'd give it a try with this novel. Although I feel her writing is very well, I did not feel a desperation for Maxi's (main character) success in saving her father's magazine business. Maxi is a spoiled girl, that will be worth millions whether or not she saves the magazine or not. The only desire she has to save the business, is to continue her father's legacy - but even that doesn't seem urgent. However, it seems from the story that her father put his business well above his children. To me, I believe the story was shallow and none of the characters were worthy enough for me to feel emotions on their success or failure. Quite a bore for me, but well written.

Rating:
Summary: Loved it! One of her best.
Review: The story starts with a rather questionable scene where the heroine, Maxi, "bribes" a JFK customs official by offering him herself, so to speak, in return for letting her through fast. But it picks up quite a bit from there. As always, great good-vs. evil story (the "evil" in this one is perhaps the most malevolent of all her books, in the person of Cutter Amberville), very appealing major and side characters, nice setting details (this time of the magazine business), and a satisfying ending. It also is kind of a love poem to New York City in certain aspects (even if Donald Trump makes an appearence...it is after all set in the mid-'80s.) Incidentally, Maxi Amberville makes a short by-mention cameo in the latest Krantz novel, Spring Collection.

Rating:
Summary: Big,luscious read !
Review: This is one of those big, luscious reads embracing power, greed, hate and, above all, money. Maxi Amberville is the daughter of self made millionaire Zachary Amberville, and has, at this point, lived life as a complete airhead, flitting from husband to husband.After Zachary's sudden death, control of his empire falls to his widow Lily, with a minor share going to their three children.Lily soon marries Cutter,Zachary's younger brother who is determined to undermine and eventually destroy the publishing empire, simply out of hatred for his brother. The story centres around the recreation of one of the firms earlier and failing magazines by Maxi, to the point where she is able to take on Cutter and so preserve the company..admittedly a big stretch of the imagination but so in tune with the soap opera style of the book that it's almost impossible to put down !

Rating:
Summary: Annoying rich snobs
Review: This is the worst of her books.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best Judith Krantz novels!
Review: This was the fifth Judith Krantz novel I read. I think it is one of her best. It is the story of Maxi, a woman whose parents own a highly lucrative magazine company. Her father had died, leaving her mother the sole owner, until she marries Maxi's uncle, Cutter. He decides to discontinue many of the magazines, including the struggling Buttons and Bows. Maxi makes a deal with her uncle, where she can do with Buttons and Bows all she wants for a year before its future is final. With that time, Maxi slowly turns it into B&B, which becomes the first runaway success for the women's demographic since Cosmopolitan. This is a very well-written novel, and while Maxi is perhaps an extremely hatable person, you end up rooting for her in the end.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best Judith Krantz novels!
Review: This was the fifth Judith Krantz novel I read. I think it is one of her best. It is the story of Maxi, a woman whose parents own a highly lucrative magazine company. Her father had died, leaving her mother the sole owner, until she marries Maxi's uncle, Cutter. He decides to discontinue many of the magazines, including the struggling Buttons and Bows. Maxi makes a deal with her uncle, where she can do with Buttons and Bows all she wants for a year before its future is final. With that time, Maxi slowly turns it into B&B, which becomes the first runaway success for the women's demographic since Cosmopolitan. This is a very well-written novel, and while Maxi is perhaps an extremely hatable person, you end up rooting for her in the end.