My favorite Krantz is Mistral's Daughter -- it's the richest I think and the most complex. I still totally admire Scruples though -- how to turn your junior year abroad into a best-selling novel. (It's got that nice ugly-duckling bit, too.)
I'm still scratching around for my ideas for a full post, but I'd say the big difference in the Chick Lit gals is that they are so ambivalent and gutless. Krantz's women know what they need to do, how they have to use all the ancient tricks that women have learned over the centuries to get ahead (and that we will, by the way, get to learn at the same time, except how to tie an Hermes scarf like a Frenchwoman, which we must still only imagine). Also, while romance is always part of the happy ending of a Krantz novel, it's not the primary motivator. The women create their own success, and getting a man is just one part of that. You know, like the heroes of regular (male) stories.
Also, Judith Krantz used to write for Vogue. She gets all the lifestyle stuff in exquisite detail. Danielle Steele tells you that things are luxurious; Judith Krantz show you what luxury is and helps you feel like an insider who will be able to recognize it in her own life.
Now tell me more about these Perelman parodies of Chandler. I just stumbled in through Dashiell Hammet. Also, try Cornell Woolrich if you like that stuff.
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Date: 2007-01-21 02:26 am (UTC)I'm still scratching around for my ideas for a full post, but I'd say the big difference in the Chick Lit gals is that they are so ambivalent and gutless. Krantz's women know what they need to do, how they have to use all the ancient tricks that women have learned over the centuries to get ahead (and that we will, by the way, get to learn at the same time, except how to tie an Hermes scarf like a Frenchwoman, which we must still only imagine). Also, while romance is always part of the happy ending of a Krantz novel, it's not the primary motivator. The women create their own success, and getting a man is just one part of that. You know, like the heroes of regular (male) stories.
Also, Judith Krantz used to write for Vogue. She gets all the lifestyle stuff in exquisite detail. Danielle Steele tells you that things are luxurious; Judith Krantz show you what luxury is and helps you feel like an insider who will be able to recognize it in her own life.
Now tell me more about these Perelman parodies of Chandler. I just stumbled in through Dashiell Hammet. Also, try Cornell Woolrich if you like that stuff.