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, found in Primates of Park Avenue: A Memoir, are smart, thought-provoking and hilariously unexpected .
Enjoyed Wednesday’s unique take on life and want something similar? Take a peek at these awesome indies.
Dogs Have Angels Too by Sarah Cavallaro
In this novel set in the dog-eat-dog world of recessionary New York City, the irrepressible Miss Pink leads a pack of down-on-their-luck women who ultimately find hope in the most unlikely of places: an over-crowded animal shelter, where unwanted pets are routinely abandoned to their grim fates.
Miss Pink, a former marketing executive and divorcee who is intermittently homeless herself, makes it her mission to find homes for a growing bevy of cuddly canines. Her “adoption walks” bring her to meet a series of fellow New Yorkers, all of whom are struggling with their own personal and financial crises. In other words, they are all uniquely ripe for recruitment in Miss Pink’s master plan- which she’s devising on the fly, by the seat of her favorite pink pants! This book is simply charming and sure to make you appreciate the dog eat dog world we often live in.
Yell Less, Love More by Sheila McCraith
In this guidebook to happier parenting, author Sheila McCraith shares daily thoughts, tips, and motivational personal stories to help readers toss out the screams and welcome in the peace.
Whether you have one child or twenty (or one you still yell at who is twenty), strengthen your relationships and maybe even laugh a little more–by taking the challenge today.
Waiter to the Rich and Shameless: Confessions of a Five Star Beverly Hills Server by Paul Hartford
Of the many millions of food service workers around the globe, only a tiny number ever ascend to a top-level position at a world-renowned restaurant catering to iconic celebrities, moguls and politicians. As one of those select few, Paul (“Pauli”) Hartford opens the door into a cloistered, coveted world of money, fame, bad behavior and intrigue, peeling back the veneer of civility and culture at the nation’s most preeminent celebrity hangout, the Cricket Room, in Beverly Hills, California.
Pauli’s ten-year evolution from a jaded, party-hungry rock musician who moonlights as a bartender, into a snobbish and pretentious waiter, and finally into a polished and sophisticated server who takes his job so seriously that it drives him to the brink of illness. He exposes the epic human foibles of its elite clientele, the dining room’s corrupt corporate culture, its clandestine culinary practices, and the heartbreaking struggles of its beleaguered waitstaff.
The Trade Off by Louise Maniscalco & Susan Rudin
At Frankel’s New York, the wives of billionaires and Hollywood celebrities sip champagne while stylists and tailors cater to every whim. And one person has made it her career to help these Amex-wielding shoppers create the perfect look.
Bonnie Salerno Madden knows all of her client’s preferences, whims, and fantasies. She knows the price they paid to gain access to the salon where having Bonnie as their private shopper is a first-class ticket to being the toast of the New York high-fashion social scene.
But while Bonnie is all elegance on the outside, she’s barely keeping it together on the inside. A single mom to a special needs child, she needs her high-pressure job to care for her family. And when that job is put in jeopardy, Bonnie will need to make some of the riskiest choices of her life to guarantee a better future for her son, and for herself. With the opportunity to live in her own fairy tale, will Bonnie have what it takes to make the trade off?
The Mothers of Country Day by Arlene Matthews
When Josie Messina’s wunderkind 12-year-old son earns a full scholarship to one of New Jersey’s toniest private schools, this hardworking, cash-strapped single mom is intimidated. Will she ever fit in with the wealthy and fashionable mothers of Little Fawn Country Day? But when Josie runs into Country Day’s most famous parent, rock legend Billy Stand – known to her as the boy she used to babysit – their embrace in the school parking lot, viewed by three of the school’s most influential social butterflies, rockets her to “A list” status. What happens next will bring truth to the warning, “Be careful what you wish for.”
This timely, irreverent send-up of contemporary academia — and the wicked ways of the one percent — will delight any parent who has ever been dragged to a PTA fundraiser, has sweated out their children’s grades and college prospects, or who has wondered what, exactly, their kids are learning at school all day.
If you loved the hilarious analogies and witty memoir spirit of Primates of Park Avenue, you will absolutely appreciate these five fabulous indies. Be sure to wear your red-soled reading shoes, Burberry specs and keep those pinkies lifted as you sip along with your reads!
Note: All books are also available through IndieBound. Enjoy!