Spice up your Monday with The Bling Ring

I'll start by admitting that I was one of the five people that watched Pretty Wild on E!. Not because I in any way, shape, or form think that those girls are good examples, but because it was literally impossible not to be memorized by what was coming out of their mouths. (I'm not just talking about the content of the dialogue, but also the unique sounds their voices produce when they deliver it.) Reality television hit the jackpot when the police showed up to their door with cameras inside. I will be forever grateful for the unscripted drama that unfolded.

Being a semi-regular reader of Vanity Fair, I had already read Nancy Jo Sales' piece "The Suspects Wore Louboutins" in 2010, and it was probably my favorite thing I had ever/will ever come across in that magazine. I'm assuming other people (Sofia Coppola) agreed, because just a short time later this incredibly unbelievable true story became a captivating book.

One of the reasons I'm such a huge fan of The Bling Ring by Nancy Jo Sales is because it's more that just a play-by-play of well-dressed teenage burglars. The author explores societal values and cultural phenomenons that led this shallow, Ugg-wearing gang to want fame so badly they would steal from the dashing Orlando Bloom achieve it. (No judgment on the Ugg-wearing part, I can't help it that they're ugly comfortable.) Before I started this book I was somewhat concerned that I was going to have to tell my husband that I was reading yet another book inspired by reality television. But it's SO MUCH more than that. I mean it was written by an award-winning journalist so I shouldn't have been that surprised. Although, if it would have been Alexis Neiers' diary, I would have gladly read it as well.

read more

Regarding the movie... Based on my immediate obsession with this book, I obviously dragged my entire family with me to go see this movie the day it came out. Disclaimer... I was the only one who didn't compulsively eat popcorn the whole time due to severe boredom. In their words, "How many times do we have to watch the same people break into the same houses?" My answer was, of course, "Not enough." In any case, isn't the book always better than the movie?