Karasyov, Carrie (Doyle) 1972-

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KARASYOV, Carrie (Doyle) 1972-

PERSONAL:

Born 1972, in New York, NY; married; husband's name Vasily; children: James. Education: Graduated from Barnard College, 1994.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Santa Monica, CA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Broadway Books, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

CAREER:

Harper's Bazaar (magazine), staff member in New York, NY, and Moscow, Russia, beginning 1994; Marie Claire magazine (Russian edition), founding editor-in-chief.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

(With Jill Kargman) The Right Address, Broadway Books (New York, NY), 2004.

(With Jill Kargman) Wolves in Chic Clothing, Broadway Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Also author, with Jill Kargman, of screenplay Bittersweet 16. Author and producer, with Jill Kargman, of film Intern; adaptor, with Jill Kargman, of Auntie Claus, for Nickelodeon.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Two film projects.

SIDELIGHTS:

Carrie Karasyov and her collaborator, Jill Kargman, were both raised on New York City's prestigious Upper East Side. Their insights into life in that exclusive world inform their two novels, The Right Address and Wolves in Chic Clothing. Karasyov and Kargman attended the same private schools and, after graduation, worked together on some screenplays. In The Right Address, they present a comic tale of Melanie Korn, a social-climbing airline stewardess who marries an elderly billionaire whose fortune was made in the funeral business. Though her marriage brings her all the trappings of the upper-crust life, Melanie finds acceptance into high society elusive, despite her best efforts to win the approval of the old-money set. Melanie seeks advice from one of her servants on how to handle herself, as she goes to the right charity balls, lunches and gossips at the most fashionable spots, and spends lavishly on shopping sprees. The plot is "predictable," according to People reviewer Allison Lynn, and the dialogue sometimes "awkward.…Yet even with these flaws, it's impossible to resist the charms of this modern Manhattan fairy tale." In an interview for the Random House Web site, the authors remarked: "There are several buildings in Manhattan that are considered the most exclusive and prestigious addresses in New York City. The New York newspapers are constantly covering these buildings, and discussing the rituals and decisions made by the co-op boards in these various buildings—it's a topic we found fascinating. Having grown up in Manhattan, we were particularly interested in how the denizens of coops interact with each other, and basically how they don't interact with each other." In relating the lives of several families within the neighborhood, they hoped to describe "how different people's lives can be, even though they are being led only a few floors apart."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, April 1, 2004, review of The Right Address, p. 124.

People, May 17, 2004, Allison Lynn, review of The Right Address, p. 50.

Publishers Weekly, April 5, 2004, review of The Right Address, p. 41.

Town & Country, June, 2004, Chantal M. McLaughlin, review of The Right Address, p. 60.

ONLINE

Random House Web site, www.randomhouse.com/ (October 29, 2004), interview with Carrie Karasyov and Jill Kargman.*

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