Primates of Park Avenue (Martin) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
An amusing, perceptive and, at times thrillingly evil takedown of upper-class culture by an outsider with a front-row seat…Martin’s writing is confident and evocative…. Her reading of the fashion attire of real estate brokers for "triple mint" apartments is brilliant…at a time when a social comedy of the rich a la Tom Wolfe has been lost in national discourse…. [I]t’s fun to dip into a sophisticated, if silly, look at the Upper East Side’s Twilight Zone. Primates of Park Avenue is also a good reminder that as much as we may envy the wealthy, they fight every day for a place in their own social hierarchy, too.
New York Times Book Review


Juicy, sexy, bawdy stuff...the perfect summer beach book...the tasty tome we'll all be devouring when the weather warms.
New York Daily News


Applying the chimpanzee research of Jane Goodall or the observations of bonobos by Frans de Waal to one's neighbors and co-workers is great fun…, Martin rewards those of us in humbler circumstances the undeniably pleasant frisson of superiority that comes with finding fault with those better endowed financially, socially, sartorially.
Chicago Tribune


Martin puts her academic background (anthropology classes and a doctorate in cultural studies) to witty good use in describing this wealthy tribe’s extremes…it became clear to me, reading Martin’s book, that our Bay Area tribes aren’t so different from those of New York.
San Francisco Chronicle


Picture Real Housewives, add in pop-science, and you have Wednesday Martin’s new book.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


A very funny, and slightly scary, look at the denizens of Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
Connecticut Post


An eye-popping insider's guide.
People


Think privileged NYC wives are another species? Martin goes undercover in this dishy memoir and reminds us that we all have something in common.
Glamour


Amusing...incisive...a wryly entertaining guide to this rarefied subculture.
Economist


Recalls Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique…. Primates is pacy and skillfully weaves cultural insight with personal anecdote…. This is an intriguing insight into a closed world. It is easy to dismiss the subjects as frivolous and mean, which many seem to be. But our envy and schadenfreude makes the rich a compelling curiosity.
Financial Times


The Midwest-raised Martin is easy for readers to sympathize with as she attempts to find new friends while old ones drift away.... It's hard, though, to care about her neighbors—and even about Martin when she finds herself coveting an $8,000 Berkin bag in order to show dominance within the pack.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review.) This anthropological journey into the wilds of New York City's most exclusive zip code could have easily devolved into condescension, but instead it proves that mothers everywhere want the same thing: health and happiness for their progeny.
Library Journal


Any population is fair game for anthropological research, so why not the super-rich, super-thin, and oh-so-well-dressed mothers of New York's Upper East Side?... Illuminating and fun.
Booklist


[T]he book becomes a useful guide for...upwardly mobile...women looking inward to understand themselves better—or...to socially maneuver more efficiently. Sometimes funny but effective for the same reason a Birkin is: it's designed for a certain group of people, and likely them alone.
Kirkus Reviews