Today I have a very fun book review and giveaway for you: Primates of Park Avenue, by Wednesday Martin.
This book is so much fun! I have a feeling it will be the book of the summer. Here is the description from Simon & Schuster:
Like an urban Dian Fossey, Wednesday Martin decodes the primate social behaviors of Upper East Side mothers in a brilliantly original and witty memoir about her adventures assimilating into that most secretive and elite tribe.
After marrying a man from the Upper East Side and moving to the neighborhood, Wednesday Martin struggled to fit in. Drawing on her background in anthropology and primatology, she tried looking at her new world through that lens, and suddenly things fell into place. She understood the other mothers’ snobbiness at school drop-off when she compared them to olive baboons. Her obsessional quest for a Hermes Birkin handbag made sense when she realized other females wielded them to establish dominance in their troop. And so she analyzed tribal migration patterns; display rituals; physical adornment, mutilation, and mating practices; extra-pair copulation; and more. Her conclusions are smart, thought-provoking, and hilariously unexpected.
Every city has its Upper East Side, and in Wednesday’s memoir, readers everywhere will recognize the strange cultural codes of powerful social hierarchies and the compelling desire to climb them. They will also see that Upper East Side mothers want the same things for their children that all mothers want—safety, happiness, and success—and not even sky-high penthouses and chauffeured SUVs can protect this ecologically released tribe from the universal experiences of anxiety and loss. When Wednesday’s life turns upside down, she learns how deep the bonds of female friendship really are.
Intelligent, funny, and heartfelt, Primates of Park Avenue lifts a veil on a secret, elite world within a world—the exotic, fascinating, and strangely familiar culture of privileged Manhattan motherhood.
Here's what I loved about the book: I love observing people. People-watching is one of my favorite pastimes. I love studying why people do what they do and why they are who they are. I love learning what is important to people and why. Wednesday's book takes us to the Upper East Side and lets us into her world: and while her observations aren't pretty, they sure are fascinating! It is a great commentary on the folly that can ensue when you keep up with the Joneses.
Check out my video review of Primates of Park Avenue. If you are unable to see the video above, click here, look in the sidebar of the blog, or visit my channel: www.youtube.com/TheDailyConnoisseur
Simon & Schuster are giving away 3 copies to readers of The Daily Connoisseur. The giveaway is open to US residents only (terms set by the publisher). Please enter via the rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway will run for one week. The winner will be posted on the widget and emailed as well. Best of luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
For more on Wednesday Martin, visit her author website here.
News
My new book, Polish Your Poise with Madame Chic: Lessons in Everyday Elegance, is coming out October 27th, 2015 and is now available for pre-order.
Lessons from Madame Chic is noted in the Wall Street Journal today as being the #1 bestselling book in Japan for 2015 so far. Thank you to my Japanese readers for embracing the book so enthusiastically!
I hope you have a wonderful week. See you soon!
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This looks like a great book! Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your book's success in Japan, Jennifer! I have many author friends, and the level of success/sales your books have achieved, in such a short time too, is beyond amazing! Keep up your good work on teaching others via your books. :)
ReplyDeleteLooks interesting-and fun
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your success in Japan! So happy for you!
ReplyDeleteLooks like an interesting read. Can't wait to read it. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteI would like to be included on the giveaway, but I don't 'do' Twitter or Facebook - may I please be included?
ReplyDeleteMargaret P
Just read this giveaway is open only to readers in the US. Never mind ... I shall just sit and sulk, boo-hoo!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, it looks a fun read ...
Margaret P
I want to order Wednesday Martin's book today and this will be so much fun, especially since we'll be in NYC in July. So, thank you for this summer reading recommendation, Jennifer, and as I recently said, I've already ordered your latest book, too. ^_^
ReplyDeleteBonjour,
ReplyDeleteUne jolie publication... merci pour ce partage.
Gros bisous ☼
Great tip, thanks.
ReplyDeleteKisses and God bless you.
Nana
http://procurandoamigosvirtuais.blogspot.com
Hi Jennifer, I picked up "Primates" based on your recommendation and started reading it. I can relate to it because I also live in a wealthy area, the wine country of California. I have two smart kids so I thought the private schools where the wealthiest folks send their kids would be the best. It was an expensive lesson. Not only were the private schools not better than the public ones, in some cases they were worse, and some of the parents were diagnosable narcissists. I don't know whether Wednesday will touch on this since she is an anthropologist and not a psychologist, but I believe there is an element of mental illness in what she describes, not just culture. So it's ridiculous but also tragic because these people's emotional impairment, a blindness to the feelings and conditions of others prevents them from helping anyone else, which they are so abundantly capable of doing in the financial sense. I'm grateful for my experience with these people though because I used to feel intimidated by their wealth and I no longer feel that way at all.
ReplyDeleteI'm not able to enter your competition since I'm in New Zealand, but I've just ordered Primates of Park Avenue - I love these kinds of books too! Thanks for the recommendation and I can't wait for it to arrive.
ReplyDelete