A novel
by:
Brooke Chirone
and
Corinne Barlow
How to Survive New York on Three Dates a Week is a comedy cocktail incorporating women’s fiction and a playful survival guide. The adventures of the young heroines, Emma Grace and Lizzie Blackwell, are interspersed with how-to lists such as (How to Get Out of a Bad Date), survival tips for example (Survival Tip #2: Liquid Stocks- From a man’s point of view drinks are an investment. The more alcoholic beverages he buys you, the more likely you’ll give him a quick return), and even a Zagat Survey on New York City Men. (F= Figure (physique) D= Demeanor (personality) S= Service (in the bedroom) C= Current Value (salary))
Our novel follows Emma Grace, born two weeks late and running late ever since. A hopeless optimist, she lives in Manhattan with her longtime friend and roommate, Lizzie Blackwell. After two years of working in art galleries, bars and retail stores, Emma accidentally/on purpose lands a job working as a junior designer at a prominent handbag company. She is barely staying afloat, trying to keep straight which hardware goes with which bag, and which phone number goes with which guy. Lizzie, on the other hand, is a fast-talking PR assistant who knows exactly what she wants and isn’t afraid to shoot for the stars.
As Emma and Lizzie are spun around the revolving door of their social lives, both their worlds are slammed to a halt. Emma is thrown on a project that will take her from New York to Hong Kong and may be the ruin of her career (and her heart). After Lizzie gets caught in the crossfire of a scandal at work, she is forced to resign, and finds herself accepting the lowly job as an assistant to her friend of convenience, a real estate heiress, whom Emma and Lizzie have secretly begun to detest. As their worlds unravel, Emma and Lizzie’s finely honed skills are put to the ultimate test of making it in NYC– single and alive.
Akin to wicked humor of Sophie Kinsella’s writing, and “Turning Tables’” (by Heather and Rose MacDowell) theme of today’s economic woes, “How to Survive on Three Dates a Week” explores the humorous and creative ways young women in the city power through even when all the cards are stacked against them.