The Gift Bag Chronicles

by Hilary De Vries

On generating the perfect party in Hollywood: If celebrities don't walk your red carpet, you don't exist. If you don't make Page Six, you don't exist. To get ten celebrities to show up, invite four... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400063493
• ISBN13: 9781400063499
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Villard Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

good fun read

the book has good structure and livly characters that stay with you and in the end leave you wanting more. it's an honest tale of what goes on in hollywood and life that goes with it.

Really liked it, even more than So 5 minutes ago

Both Alex and her author have grown up in this very entertaining, but also more thoughtful follow-up to So 5 minutes ago. I found the book hard to put down and very relaxing in an extremely stressing period (maybe because I like reading about people whose lives are more stressed out than mine:-). The lack of a predictable "happy ending" taking over where the previous chapter had left was a surprise bonus: most of the times, imperfection is the way to go. Again, I find that people sometimes expect way too much from books that are written mainly to entertain. If you want depth, excellent writing and cerebral writing, read Ian McEwan instead.

Loved It!!

I absolutely loved this book along with the authors first book So 5 Minutes Ago, it is witty, funny, and I laughed out loud. Alex's character development makes you feel as if you are personally friends with the girl - brilliant! (...)

In the 'Bag'

I have learned to steer clear of trendy, chick-lit books, especially if they're set in showiz circles; I mean, that girl who wrote "The Devil Wears Prada" is nearly illiterate, and don't even get me startedon Plum Sykes' attempts at stringing together a sentence. BUT, despite the genre that "The Gift Bag Chronicles" may get lumped into, the bottom line is it's just a really good read. I found myself getting sooo sucked into the story of Alex and her 3000-miles-away-boyfriend Charles and how some guy who's utterly NOT her type (Oscar) slowly starts to work his way into her life. The thing is, It's sexy and fun and these people are not stupid and you won't be embarassed or ashamed after you've read it.

My new favorite author

Someone gave me De Vries' other book ("So 5 Minutes Ago") and I read it on a really long plane flight and it made the plane flight go so quickly. I mean, it was genuinely funny, the characters were compelling and real. I could totally relate to Alex (he main character). I just loved the book. So when De Vries came out with Gift Bag Chronicles, I was eager to get it and....mmmm, wary. Y'know the term, "sophomore slump?" Fortunately, that is so not the case. "Gift Bag Chronicles" shows De Vries to be the real deal. It's just as funny as "So 5 Minutes Ago," with an added measure of poignance, I thought. It's so good, I'm actually kind of mad that I've already ready it: I've got another long plane flight coming up, and this would've been the perfect travel companion.