Expose Lit

Expose Lit are novels which gives us an insight into an industry which is based on the author's experience. 

Ondo Lady, 2009

We have Chick Lit, Lad Lit and Chick Noir but over the years we have witnessed the growth of Expose Lit. It is rather akin to roman a clef which is a depiction of real life experiences without revealing the sources, however Expose Lit has a variety of characteristics. It features a small town rookie who moves to the big city in order to persue their dreams, lands an entry level position in sexy glam industry and has a tyranic larger then live boss who is extremely demanding as well as back stabbing colleague. The dilenma of the story features whether or not the protagonist will go over to the dark side in order to get what they want. It was the release of The Nanny Diaries in 2002 that set the trend in the genre with the book being a huge success on both sides of the pond. Then a year later another book would send Expose Lit exploding into the mainstream media. The Devil Wears Prada caught the imagination of readers in the literary world in the story about a young upstart who lands a role as as assistant for a demanding editor. Since then everyone has become intruiged about the goings on in glam industries such as book publishing, PR, magazines, music, film and TV. Every so keen to meet demand, the book publishers have been releasing titles after titles to satisfy readers. A lot of these books have gone on to become successful films ie The Nanny Diaries, The Devil Wears Prada and The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing (which was renamed Surburban Girl.) The others remain great pieces of fiction.

Here are my top Expose Lit books. 

Spin by Robert Rave
Robert Rave worked in PR as an assistant for Lizzie Grubman. This book is a fantastic and riveting read with great writers and characters. There are rumours that Spin is to be made into a movie with Zac Efron playing the lead. 

Pop Tart by Kira Coplin and Julianne Kaye
This is the tale of Jackie O'Reilly, a make up artist who befriends teen pop star, Brooke Parker. Kira Coplin has written for US Weekly and now works as filmmaker in LA and Julianne Kaye is a very successful make up artists who has worked for many artists such as Britney Spears; so they really know what they are talking about. Great book and a fantastic insight into the music machine. 

Schooled by Anisha Lakhani
This book is basically the real Gossip Girl and exposes the deception and corruption that goes on in posh private schools in New York. Anna Taggart starts a new job as a teacher at Langdon Hall with all the best intentions of nurturing her students but finds herself sliding down the slippery pole of backhanders and designer gifts. A fantastic read.

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
Not read this book but 10 out of 10 for pioneering the whole expose lit thing. Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Krause both worked as nannies in New York so this book was really their memoirs. The Nanny Diaries was released in 2002 and gained No 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. A film was released in 2007 staring Scarlett Johanason but sadly it was a flop. 

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger 

The ultimate Expose Lit which tells the story of Andrea Sachs, a midwestern girl who moves to the Big Apple in order to become a journalist for the New Yorker. Strangely enough she finds herself at the biggest magazine on earth and working for a boss with the biggest ego. Lauren Weisberger was an assistant at Vogue for Anna Wintour. The book was published in 2003 and was adapted into hugely successful film in 2006. My verdict is great film but shame about the book. The characters here are lacklustre and the narrative really drags. 

Twin of Tribeca by Rachel Pine

Just started reading this and so far so good. Karen Jacobs is a junior publicist at Glorious Pictures where she is treated like crap. The company is owned by the Waxman Brothers who run the company with an iron fist. Rachel Pine worked as a publicist at Miramax which is owned by the Weinstein brothers so knows all about the Hollywood machine. 

Because She Can by Bridie Clark
Clare Truman is offered a job as an editor with Vivian Grant, one of the most formidable women in publishing. Sadly her dream job turns into a nightmare when her boss shows her true colours and begins showering her staff with relentless workload and mental and verbal abuse. Bridie Clark has worked in the book publishing industry for years and under hot shot publishing maverick, Judith Regan who this book is rumoured to be based on. Because She Can is a blatant attempt to cash in on the success of The Devil Wears Prada but it fails miserably. The story is weak and the characters are super bland.

So with a sequel to The Nanny Diaries aka The Nanny Returns, out in December it looks like the genre of Expose Lit is set to run and run.

NYC Prep

Oh no they didn’t! Oh but they have. Bravo TV are airing a reality version of Gossip Girl – no not Schooled that I blogged about here or Gossip Girl: Real NYC Stories Revealed, which I featured here. NYC Prep is a docu drama that depicts the lives of six teenagers who live a privilege existence in an affluent part of New York. The teenagers range from 15 to 18 and attend the most elite schools in Manhattan and live in a world where credit cards, Blackberrys and cellphones are the norm.

Jessie is a feisty social mover who dreams of a life in fashion, she hangs out with Peter Peterson aka PC an obnoxious 17 year old who is rather jaded and quite clearly being pushed as the Chuck Bass of the group. Jessie and PC used to date and now they are just best friends. Kelli is kind of a latchkey kid who shares an apartment with her 18 year old brother while her parents pop in once a week from the Hamptons. Kelli wants to be a singer hence the fact that she moved back to the city so when she is not working making demos in the recording studio she is spending time with Camille, an over achiever who has her heart set on Harvard. Camille has quite the acid tongue and does not suffer fools gladly. The eye candy of the group is French speaking Sebastian whose main goal is hook up with as many girls as possible. Last but not least is Taylor, the Jenny Humphries of the set. Taylor is the only one that attends public school and spends most of her time trying to fit in with her much richer peers.

The kids in NYC Prep have a fabulous lifestyle; they have great clothes, great apartments, unlimited access to money and great hair. Their activities involve eating out in swanky restaurants, shopping in designer boutiques, attending fashion shows and launches at art galleries. The similarities between GG are obvious with the same playing field in common and to a certain extent absentee parents but I would go out on a limb and say that NYC Prep is more like the East Coast version of Laguna Beach. It is not a work of art and Bravo TV's new show makes very entertaining and envious watching.

Check out a clip from the show below.



NYC Prep airs on Tuesdays on Bravo TV.

Schooled by Anisha Lakhani

A while back I reported that a real life version of Gossip Girl would be hitting the big screen and that it was based on a book called Schooled which delved into the world of the elite private schools in Manhattan. The book is written by Anisha Lakhani, I also promised you a review and well here it is. Schooled is based on Anisha's own experience as a teacher at a snooty school in New York. Her alma mater, Anna Taggert enters the system all bright eyed and bushy tailed planning to enrich her students' lives with the prose of Shakespeare. Unfortunately, instead of being greeted with gratitude she is faced with hostility from her students, parents and fellow tutors. The unwritten rule at Langdon Hall; the school that Anna teaches is that there is no level playing field and grades are dependent on a student's surname and postcode as opposed to their efforts. After all this is a place where students have designer clothes, handbags, iPods and Blackberrys and as much cash as they desire. Meanwhile Anna has to struggle to meet her rent payments on her tiny apartment in the wrong end of Manhattan. So it is no wonder that she jumps at a gig to privately tutor one of students after all she needs the cash right? Her delight soon turns to horror when she realises that 'tutoring' is just a coy term for blatant cheating and that her role really is to do the work of the privileged student to make sure that they graduate and go on to an Ivy League college. Anna is initially disgusted by the immoral life that she has moved into but the lure of the money is too irresistible. Pretty soon she has clocked up several more clients and is taking home more money in a week than she does on a monthly basis in her full time job. I think it is safe to say that Anna gets totally sucked into her new lifestyle which now consists of Lanvin suits, Sass and Bide jeans, Chanel clutches to go with her all new $1,000 haircut. She also trades her shabby apartment to a sleeker one in Madison Avenue -Anna is going up in the world. However, as we know all good things come to an end and while she is raking in the cash it is at the expense of her social life and morality. Suddenly she has to choose on which route to stay on.


I came across Anisha Lakhani in an article in Gawker and was initially drawn to the obvious comparisons to Gossip Girl. A few chapters in I realised that there was more to this book than the lavish lifestyles of the rich Manhattanites. What Schooled brings to us is a tale of ideals and how easy it can be for those ideals to be corrupted. Not only does Anisha's tale explores the underworld of an unfair private education system where money seems to buy anything it also concentrates on the kids who have been failed by their thoughtless parents. Schooled is a compelling read due to Anisha's narrative which is very accessible and I would say that her constant dropping of designer names and her student's opulent lifestyle is very Gossip Girl (esque). No surprise to hear that it was the Gossip Girl books that inspired her to write Schooled and get the story from the other side out. We all love a good kiss and tell story and this is one in it's finest form. Move along The Devil Wears Prada and The Nanny Diaries, there is a new kid on the block called Schooled who is after your crown.

The Real Gossip Girl

Ok so we had The Real OC and The Real Housewives of Orange County so make way for The Real Gossip Girls. A new film based on the book, Schooled (a review coming soon) focuses on the real life Blairs, Serenas. Nates and Chucks. We are brought into the world of a private school in Manhattan's privileged Upper East Side where students sling £1,000 Mulberry school bags over their shoulders. Schooled is written by Anisha Lakhani, a former school teacher at a top private school in Manhattan who bit off a lot more than she could chew when she started tutoring wealthy kids in her spare time. She witnessed first hand a life of debauchery, indulgence and down right greed. Anisha has penned her story about her experience and the rights have been picked up for a movie. Is it me or does this sound like a delicious movie.