Me Times Three: A Novel

Me Times Three narrator Sandra Berlin has just discovered that her fiancé has been cheating on her with not one but two women. She's looking for a support group, one where "I could stand up and say, 'Hi, I'm Sandra and I'm a gullible, pathetic sap.'" Sandra's journey from sap to grownup provides the plot line for the first novel from Alex Witchel, a Style reporter for the New York Times. But the real raison d'être of the novel is the opportunity for Witchel to flaunt her delightfully insiderish view of Manhattan. Sandra works for Jolie, a fashion magazine that sounds a lot like Elle, under the fearsome Susie, a mercurial editor who seems determined to ruin every story Sandra turns in. Plotting and character aren't Witchel's strong points, but the verisimilitude of her evocation of Manhattan media life makes Me Times Three a fun, fluffy romp. --Claire Dederer