At least super-skinny, jet-setting socialite Plum Sykes writes about what she knows: Her second novel, The Debutante Divorcée, like her first novel, Bergdorf Blondes, is a send-up of the world of super-skinny, jet-setting socialites. And the story follows the fabulous lives of a host of composite characters based on other scenesters, who are often given cleverish recombinant names (Sylvie Mortimer, anyone? Tinsley Bellangere? Lauren Blount? Marci Klugerson? Alixe Carter? Sanford Berman?*). There’s also a veritable Gawker Stalker list of real-life celebrity sightings and references, indexed below (Gawker Stalker, page 113).
Page 2: “Mick Jagger has just invited her to dinner, which tends to happen the second a new wife’s plane has landed.”
Page 5: “Actually there wasn’t a soul up there, except Beyoncé or Lindsay Lohan, or some other girl of the minute … Well, actually, I love Lindsay Lohan again. I want to be Lindsay Lohan most of the time, don’t you?”
Page 6: “Everyone thinks Rupert Murdoch’s huge, but Sanford’s so huge he owns Rupert Murdoch.”
Page 21: “I blame James Spader. I’ve always thought social acceptance of male self-torture can be traced directly back to sex, lies, and videotape.”
Page 23: “I hope you’ve got something else to focus on besides being the Eternity wife. Look what happened to Jessica Simpson.”
Page 24: “Can you believe John Currin and Rachel Feinstein have come … as themselves!” said Lauren the night of her birthday party … the theme was Legendary Lovers.
Page 29: “Then you read somewhere or other that she’s been at Mr. Revlon’s or whoever’s place in Barbuda … ”
Page 36: “That’s probably, like, Jay-Z or someone calling to ask if they can come to the party.”
Page 94: “Liv Tyler, Olatz Schnabel, SJP—you can barely get a lunchtime table anymore at Saint Ambroeus on Perry Street for all the glamorous mommies.”
Page 106: “Look at me … I’ve turned into Kimora Lee Simmons. I’m getting much younger guys with this look.”
Page 120: “She looked ghoulishly beautiful, like Nicole Kidman in The Others.”
Page 135: “Russian billionaires are always accompanied by exceptionally beautiful women who chat about as much as Holly Hunter did in The Piano.”
Page 144: “He’s engaged … She’s probably the next Natalia Vodianova, or something like that.”
Page 163: “I usually find Barbara Walters to be compelling viewing … the way Barbara’s hair stays the same each year is endlessly comforting.”
Page 175: “Melania Trump wouldn’t get on at all well, clothes-wise, in Megève. There are only two nights of the year when one is allowed to dress up.”
Page 176: “Old, rich guys are boring. The only one I could do is Barry Diller.”
Page 185: “How else do you manage three kids and a lifestyle business? God, maybe Kate Spade’s on medication too, I thought.”
Page 195: “I love it. I feel très C.Z. Guest.”
Page 197: “ ‘Mischa! Barton!’ … shouted Access Hollywood’s Nancy O’Dell … who looked exactly like one of the chandeliers downstairs.”
Page 200: “There was more brain candy at Sanford’s funeral (Charlie Rose/Bloomberg/Oprah) than at one of Rupert Murdoch’s Sun Valley summits.”
Page 204: “ … she walked into Swifty’s. ‘If nothing else we are guaranteed an Ivana sighting. Is that Bill Clinton? … Look, there’s Margarita Missoni.’ ”
Page 229: “Marci had hired Ivana’s aforementioned divorce lawyer … Even Dominick Dunne had gone on the trail for his Vanity Fair column,to no avail.”
*From the book’s acknowledgments: “I thank all those fabulous, real-life Debutante Divorcées who whispered me their secrets … To all of you—and you know who you are—your anonymity remains intact. Samantha Gregory, Tinsley Mercer-Mortimer, Miranda Brooks, Muffy Potter Aston, Vicky Ward, Samantha Cameron … Anna Wintour.” Next: The City’s Beaches Getting Excrementally Worse