I don't know what I should think about this book. I saw a blurb in the Style section of the Washington Post one Friday (10/17/08?), and it said that SJP is going to do a show on HBO (which I won't watch) "loosely" based on the book, without most (or all?) of the naughty (read: NASTY SLUTTY) and blog bits. Um, why bother, then?I'm reading it here and there when I get a minute. It's a quick read and doesn't take much intelligence to digest, since it's essentially soft porn and a lot of curse words. And this from someone who could make a sailor blush! Exactly how much of this book is from Cutler's life/blog, I'm not sure because I never read it. The main character, Jackie, is a first-class slut with no morals or conscience. She is very arrogant and bitchy (esp. towards other girls, Hill staffers, and Washingtonians in general), and as you read, it becomes clear that she doesn't really think much of herself, either. Jackie sees a psychiatrist/therapist after she gets fired from her Hill job and is told that she needs to figure out who she is, why she's so selfish, and why she does the self-destructive things (sex, drugs, booze) she's been doing for so long. Shortly thereafter, at the end of the book, it's obvious that Jackie really hasn't learned much from having her personal life blow up in her face in national headlines and just wants to profit from the disaster, regardless of whom she alienates and humiliates.At any rate, I think I'm going to need to go to confession after I'm finished with it; not because it's so trashy, but because I should've spent that time playing with my daughter!
This book was an extremely easy read (I finished it in about 4 hours total) but it was also quite entertaining...It was not "well-written" by any means (her vocabulary and lack of real character development in the "story" left a lot to be desired), but more than anything I believe that anyone who enjoys reading compilations of outrageous anecdotes that describe, and embarrass, those who hold the power in our country, would enjoy this. For the most part, I think the entertainment came from the fact that I live in D.C. and have witnessed/experienced a microcosm of the events and nightlife that Cutler describes in her scandalous novel (which originated as a blog of her sex-capdes while working on the Hill.) And at the same time once you get done laughing at the ridiculousness of a vast majority of the events, you also just want to take a shower because of how dirty it makes you feel, knowing that anyone could lead their lives in such manners. I think, although not many women would admit it, there are a lot of us out there that secretly wish they could have the audacity to lead a life that took reprisals against any man in power who uses their position and money to objectify women (minus all the STD's that she may acquire along the way, of course.)
Do You like book The Washingtonienne (2006)?
What a trashy novel! I was not surprised, having followed Jessica Cutler's "career" in DC. While supposedly a work of fiction, this book was a thinly veiled account of her experiences in the nation's capital. It chronicled a lot of mindless, self-destructive behavior. The main character was very hard for me to like or understand. Over and over again, she tried to explain her irresponsible behavior by saying she was just one of many young women in DC acting this way. I have news for her. I was a young woman in DC and I never acted like her. I know the author has made a name for herself in New York since her experiences in DC. I wonder if she thinks it was all worth it.
—Lisa
I told myself in the beginning I would not beat up a book or an author, so I will have to keep this review short.I am fine with an occasional sex scene or obscenity cast around - but this book was over the top and a little too much. Filled with sex, drugs and some work life, this book was not the "Washington Sex and the City" it was advertised to be. I only finished because I could use it for two challenges and I am that girl who must give a book a fair shot. After 100 pages, I only had 150 some odd more to finish and couldn't walk away. Thankfully being stuck in a car helped finish it off. Unfortunately, living near DC, I was so excited to read this book and be able to know where the character was running around. I was let down.I would not pass this book off to anyone.
—Kristin (Kritters Ramblings)
I'd give this book no stars if I thought people wouldn't think I had just been too lazy to rate the book; this was awful! Let's list the reasons why: 1.) If Jessica Cutler wanted to be a writer, she should have spent more time learning to write well - it read like a Live Journal! No descriptive adjectives, not settings, nothing that invited me into the book to sit at the table with these women and watch their lives unfold (which, by the way, Sex and the City happens to do well - the book that this one was wrongly acclaimed to be just like). 2.) There was no character growth. Jackie was a druggie, broke, sexpot who had her ONLINE diary of her exploits slapped in her face and then what? She continues to be self-centric and throws away the one person who might ever love her so she can make money off her mistakes and move back to a city where there are more drugs and less eating.The thing is, I would have enjoyed this book if it was just a diary of sexual exploits and substance abuse (albeit one written well). Instead it read as some kind of explanation of this woman's misadventures that offered justifications of why she acted the way she did. She was, isntead, immature, selfish, spoiled, ungrateful and the kind of person I would have gladly slapped across the face at Syracuse.
—Lorna
