The Accidental Bestseller (Paperback)
Posted on | August 6, 2009 |
Review
A wise and witty foray into the hearts of four amazing women and the publishing world they inhabit.Karen White, author of The House on Tradd Street
Once upon a time four aspiring authors met at their very first writers conference. Ten years later theyre still friends, survivors of the ultra-competitive New York publishing world. Mallory St. James is a workaholic whose bestsellers support a lavish lifestyle. Tanya Mason is a single mother juggling two jobs, two (more…)
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10 Responses to “The Accidental Bestseller (Paperback)”
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August 6th, 2009 @ 11:14 am
The Accidental Bestseller is a great book from start to finish. Wendy Wax’s novel is a light and enjoyable read that focuses deeply on four writer friends. While some authors struggle with giving one main character depth, Wax is able to get up close and intimate with her four, strong female heroines.
Kendall, Mallory, Faye, and Tanya are all published authors in different locations, with varying degrees of success. Above all else, the four are close friends. The book begins with Kendall’s faltering career and leads into to the demise of her marriage. As all of these piles up, Kendall decides to flee to her mountain home and shut off reality. Luckily for Kendall, her friends all decide to come to her aid. In the mountain, they devise an outlandish plan to save Kendall’s career. No one expected their plan to work, but when it did the results are truly amazing.
Unlike her friends, Kendall’s writing career is faltering, about to be dropped by her publisher, she owes them one more novel. The problem is, Kendall is avoiding writing out of the fear that she has lost her gift and out of the fear about what she has to face in her own life. Kendall’s friends agree to act as ghostwriters and help her meet her deadline. Each will write chapters for their respective characters. Characters that they choose to model after themselves. Secrets and all. When the news breaks about the collaboration, their worlds are torn apart, considering Kendall is the only one listed as the author and Mallory, Faye, and Tanya all work for different publishing houses. Not to mention that potential marriage ending and personal revelations that are exposed as a result of the novels astonishing success. The four fictional characters are quickly matched to their respective very real authors. Kendall, Mallory, Faye, and Tanya must fight through bad press, hurt spouses, and angry agents. As a result of the unwanted attention and success the four women learn much about each other and themselves.
Wendy Wax does a marvelous job of keeping the four women’s stories separate, yet fluidly interchanged. By giving each their own respective chapters, Wax is able to keep their lives and the various people in them, clear and relatable. There is no story confusion even after new people are introduced in. I have read plenty of books before with multiple main characters that were impossible to keep story lines straight. This is not the case here. Kendall, Mallory, Faye and Tanya, all maintain their individuality, and their dignity, even when deep dark secrets are revealed as a result of their brilliant plan. This is a great story about writing, friendship, knowing who you are, and adapting to change.
August 6th, 2009 @ 11:58 am
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE ACCIDENTAL BESTSELLER is Enormously Entertaining
When author Kendall Aims doesn’t win the writing award she’s set her heart on, her life starts falling apart.
August 6th, 2009 @ 4:28 pm
The Accidental Bestseller by Wendy Wax
Wow! Just wow! I just this moment finished this book and I’d like to say to Ms Wax BRAVO! If you are a published author, you will appreciate the insiders look at some of the quirks of the industry and perhaps you will even recognize someone you’ve had to deal with in the past. If you are a pre-published writer, you may appreciate the look into what other authors have to do to get over those dry spells. If you are simply a book lover like me you will appreciate everything about this book. And if you are a woman, you will appreciate the author’s views on best friends who will help you out when life seems to be too much; no matter what it costs them. And in this book they all have the potential of loosing it all.
Years ago four women from varied back rounds met at a writer’s conference and formed a bond. None of them had been published, but they sure hoped to be one day. Well that “one day” happened for all of them. Each woman writing a different style of books: Faye writing Inspirational Romances, Tanya writing contemporary romances books for a Harlequin-esque company called Masque; Mallory striking, confident and very prolific with her novels. Yet as successful as they are on the surface, each one holds a secret close to their hearts. And then there is Kendell.
Kendell is having problems in the literary world and has tumbled into mid-listdom, not only that, a new book deadline is quickly approaching with nothing yet written, and to add insult to injury her husband has left her for a younger woman.
Kendell is the main protagonist of this book, or is she really? We find her escaping to the mountains to lick her wounds. And of course Kendell’s BFF’s come to help her through this rocky time and hope to kick-start the creative juices that seem to be missing from Kendell’s messed up life. I won’t spoil anything for you more than has been already, but a plan is hatched, goes into effect and they collaborate on a novel using their own lives and unfortunately their own writing voices.
What no one would fathom is the book becomes “The Accidental Bestseller” (literally) and true to life - what may go well one minute, collapses the next.
We learn the secrets behind each of the masks each one wears and I found my stomach in knots praying that this would work out well for at least some of them in the end. But I’ll leave that up to you to find out.
Very fast paced, deeply absorbing, well plotted and written. It has finely drawn characters that you can imagine as your own bet friends. Do not by any means mistake this as a “chick-lit” genre book, it most certainly is not. This book is unique and a breath of fresh air . Something that you will not regret spending your hard earned book buying dollars on. I know that I haven’t.
August 6th, 2009 @ 5:07 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Accidental Bestseller Sold me!
The Accidental Bestseller by Wendy Wax was one of the most fun books I have read in a while. It was full of friendship and folly and how oftentimes the two go together.
August 6th, 2009 @ 5:51 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Required reading for the aspiring romance writer.
Wendy Wax has written a book about authors for authors. Her characters, all doing well on the New York publishing track, are close to the top of the game when they come together…
August 7th, 2009 @ 12:44 am
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Absolute Delight
This book is deftly plotted, delightfully paced and funny as heck, too! I found myself racing through to get to the end as the suspense built, and then wishing I could slow down…
August 7th, 2009 @ 6:55 am
5.0 out of 5 stars
I absolutely LOVE this book!
As a copywriter frequently facing ‘writer’s block’ (or procrastination as you wish), this book has inspired me to actually put my ‘butt in the chair’ and write the copy I need and…
August 7th, 2009 @ 12:08 pm
4.0 out of 5 stars
Writing, Friendship, and Deceit
I enjoyed reading this book. This was an interesting look at the writer’s life (I’ve never read a book about this before). I found myself wondering how much of it was true.
August 7th, 2009 @ 2:51 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
entertaining contemporary fiction
A decade ago Kendall Aims, Mallory St. James, Faye Truett and Tanya Mason attended a wannabe writer’s conference and became friends.
August 7th, 2009 @ 3:30 pm
4.0 out of 5 stars
intriguing glimpse into the world of publishing
At a writers conference ten years ago, four aspiring writers met and became close friends. A decade later they are still friends, and very much a part of one another’s lives…