Fabulous Nobodies

Fabulous Nobodies by Lee Tulloch

Reality Nirvana Tuttle knows what fabulous is. Being fabulous is her life. She is devoted to dressing up. Her frocks - Gina, Dolores, Tallulah, Petula and Blanche, to name but a few - are her best friends, her closest confidantes. In her role as the doorgirl at the hip, Downtown New York nightclub, Less is More, Reality sees herself as the ultimate arbiter of taste, a goddess who stands above the crowd selecting fabulous nobodies from the waiting hopefuls below. When she and her English drag-queen friend Freddie open what they're sure will be New York's most fabulous club in their tiny apartment, Reality becomes really fabulous, and her new fame brings complications, not least among them Hugo Falk, the gossip columnist. She now must face a true dilemma: can people be more important than frocks?

A friend of mine loaned me this book. It's early chick lit (before people used the term "chick lit") written by an Australian author, but set in Manhattan's Lower East Side.

I've been struggling to put my feelings about the book into words. Fabulous Nobodies was a nice break from some of the more serious books I've read lately (like The Road), but I really can't say that I enjoyed reading it. Reality grated on my nerves, the Manhattan in the novel didn't seem quite right, and I didn't think that an American girl -- even a fashionista -- would refer to her dresses as frocks.

The funny thing is that when I finished the books I liked it. The ending was very satisfying. I'm not sure if that really should have been enough to redeem the novel for me, but it did leave a good taste in my mouth.