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Gossip Girl is a series of novels for teenagers created by Cecily von Ziegesar and written by herself as well as by an unknown ghost writer. The name of the first novel in the series, Gossip Girl, is also the nom de plume of the narrator. It has also been adapted into a TV series airing on The CW and CTV. It spawned two spin-off book series, The It Girl and Gossip Girl: The Carlyles.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Books
* 2 Central characters
* 3 Secondary characters
* 4 TV series
* 5 Criticism
* 6 External links
* 7 References
[edit] Books
The books are published by Alloy Entertainment and distributed by Little, Brown and Company and Bloomsbury Publishing. The complete series has been published in paperback with the last book, a prequel, It Had To Be You, published in hardcover. Books nine, ten and eleven of the main series were ghostwritten.[1][2]
1. Gossip Girl
2. You Know You Love Me
3. All I Want Is Everything
4. Because I'm Worth It
5. I Like It Like That
6. You're the One That I Want
7. Nobody Does It Better
8. Nothing Can Keep Us Together
9. Only in Your Dreams
10. Would I Lie to You?
11. Don't You Forget About Me
12. I Will Always Love You (Coming November 2009)
Prequel
1. It Had To Be You
The series has spawned two spin-offs: The It Girl and Gossip Girl: The Carlyles.
[edit] Central characters
Blair Waldorf
The series' main character.[3] Blair Cornelia Waldorf is described as a 5'4" and slender girl with brilliant blue eyes and a fox-like face. She is involved in extracurricular activities and is very intelligent and determined. For the first three books, she had long, chestnut hair, but chopped it into a pixie cut in Because I'm Worth It, before having it extended in Don't You Forget About Me. She is a hopeless romantic who idolizes Audrey Hepburn and has a sensitive side that contrasts her tendency to be controlling. She loves to pretend her life is a movie and watches Breakfast at Tiffany's and Roman Holiday often. She is vain, although her friendship with it-girl Serena van der Woodsen causes her to be insecure at times. In the first book, when Serena returns, Blair is extremely reluctant to let her back into her life because it would mean giving up the "queen bee" position she held in Serena's absence. She also fears losing Nate to Serena since they slept together before Serena left. Blair uses her charm, money and social status to get what she wants. Her father, once a lawyer, now lives in a French chateau with his boyfriend, Giles, and their adopted Cambodian twins, Ping and Pong. He shares a love of shoes with Blair. He raised Blair under the impression that she deserves everything she wants. Her mother, Eleanor Waldorf-Rose, is a flaky society-hostess who married Cyrus Rose. Blair has a younger brother, Tyler; a stepbrother, Aaron, and a baby half-sister, Yale (named after the college Blair hoped to attend, making her a good luck charm). She has a turbulent relationship with Nate Archibald throughout the series, losing him to other girls several times, including Jenny Humphrey and Serena van der Woodsen. Blair now attends Yale University. She is portrayed by Leighton Meester in the TV series.
Serena van der Woodsen
Serena is described as 5'7" with long, pale blond hair and huge, navy eyes. She is slim and ethereally beautiful, often described as "perfect" in the books. She is often told that she is not working to her full potential, but her personality is usually as well regarded as her physical attributes. Like her sometimes-best friend Blair Waldorf, she and her family are prominent in New York society. Serena dabbled in modeling before landing a starring role in Breakfast at Fred's, a remake of Breakfast at Tiffany's. Serena has kept a steady string of admirers, including Nate Archibald, Dan Humphrey, Aaron Rose, and an entire a capella group at Yale. Despite the attention she receives from the opposite sex, Serena longs for true romance. She seeks this in Nate. She has fallen in love many times, but nothing has been too serious. Serena is much less demanding and uptight than Blair. She gets what she wants with very little effort which causes a lot of people to envy her. She is worshiped by freshman Jenny Humphrey who aspires to be just like her despite their physical differences. Serena is often criticized by her classmates who find her an excellent source of gossip, but resent her effortless good looks and her ability to get the attention of any male. Her parents rarely appear in the series. At the end of the book series, Serena decided to stay in New York City, instead of attending one of the many Ivy Leagues schools she got into, because she wanted to discover her life for herself. She is portrayed by Blake Lively in the TV series.
Nate Archibald
Nate is a wealthy, good-looking lacrosse player from St. Jude's school for boys. He is described as having wavy golden brown hair and sparkling, emerald-green eyes. His mother is a French socialite and his father is a former Navy captain. In the books, Nate is depicted as someone who smokes lots of marijuana and was once caught and sent to rehab after buying a dimebag in the parks. He has dated a number of girls including Serena van der Woodsen, Jenny Humphrey, Georgina Sparks, L'Wren from L'Ecole and Tawny from the Hamptons, but his only serious relationship has been with his on-again/off-again girlfriend, Blair Waldorf. After stealing his lacrosse coach's Viagra, he relied on Blair and her alumnus father's connections to get accepted to Yale, although he eventually left to sail around the world with his father's Navy mentor because he is unable to choose between Blair and Serena. He is portrayed by Chace Crawford in the TV series.
Dan Humphrey
Dan is a thin, sensitive, caffeine-addicted poet who often sees the darker side of things. Dan is a romantic whose imagination runs off wildly at the worst times. He is over-analytic and easily frustrated. He is romantically linked to Vanessa Abrams, who appears to be the love of his life, but he hasn't always been the best boyfriend. Prior to his relationship with Vanessa, he spent two years in love with Serena van der Woodsen. He has held several writing-related roles, including having a poem called "Sluts" published in the The New Yorker; an internship at Red Letter, a prominent literary magazine; and a short stint as songwriter/lead singer for indie-rock sensation The Raves. He has a close relationship with his sister, Jenny and his father Rufus. Before realizing he loved Vanessa, he was confused about his sexuality and experimented with a guy named Greg. His absentee mother returns in the final book because she believes that he is gay. Dan is now attending the Evergreen State College in Washington. He is portrayed by Penn Badgley in the TV series.
Jenny Humphrey
The younger sister of Dan Humphrey, fifteen year old Jenny is the youngest of the Gossip Girl characters. She is an aspiring artist and holds a secret desire to be a model like Serena van der Woodsen, whom she eventually befriends. She often tries to fit in with the rich girls at her school, even though she does not hold a place in their social sphere. After Jenny gets kicked out of Constance Billard School for Girls, she ends up going to a boarding school, Waverly Academy, to reinvent herself as the "It Girl", a la Serena. She is now the main character in a spin-off series of books called The It Girl. She is portrayed by Taylor Momsen in the TV series.
Vanessa Abrams
Vanessa is a budding filmmaker. She is the polar opposite of her Constance Billard School for Girls classmates. Her parents are hippie artists who live in Vermont, while her sister Ruby is bassist for the band SugarDaddy. She's described in the books as pale and she shaves her own head. She has a shaky relationship with Dan Humphrey. After Ruby comes back from a world tour with her new fiance, Piotr, Vanessa moves in with the Humphreys, further complicating her relationship with Dan. She is attending NYU at the end of the book series. She is portrayed by Jessica Szohr in TV series.
[edit] Secondary characters
Kati Farkas and Isabel Coates
Kati and Isabel made up Blair's former clique before Serena returned to New York City. They are two alumna socialites and Blair's loyal sidekicks of Constance Billard School for Girls. Isabel was admitted to Princeton University, but she turned the Ivy down for Rollins College in Orlando, Florida because she wanted to attend college with her best friend, Kati. They are portrayed as followers of Blair and Serena and are constantly trying to copy their fashion sense. They are portrayed by Nan Zhang and Nicole Fiscella in the TV series.
Chuck Bass
A secondary figure throughout the series,[4] Chuck is a handsome, lust-driven antagonist in the books. Although in the first book he tries to take advantage of both little Jenny Humphrey and an inebriated Serena van der Woodsen, who he once kissed at a hot tub party, Chuck is implied to be gay in the rest of the series. Chuck has a pet monkey named Sweetie, who can often be found perching on his shoulder and wearing coordinated outfits. He is largely despised by other characters but never ostracized due to his wealth and power. He goes out with Greg, the homosexual literary Dan went out with at the end of the series. After he is not accepted to any of the colleges he applies to, he ends up going to military college. Chuck is largely a secondary character in the books. In the TV series he is portrayed as a primary character by British actor Ed Westwick.
Erik van der Woodsen
The older brother of Serena van der Woodsen. He once had a fling with Blair Waldorf. In the TV series, he is Serena's overly caring younger brother portrayed by Connor Paolo.
Aaron Rose
The herb cigarette-smoking and vegan stepbrother of Blair Waldorf and son of Cyrus Rose. He drives a red Saab, and had an unrequited crush on his stepsister, Blair. Later on he dated both Serena and Vanessa, and was accepted to Harvard University. In the TV series he knows Serena van der Woodsen and dates her before he knows Blair Waldorf or her mother Eleanor Waldorf, and he is portrayed by John Patrick Amedori.
Tyler Waldorf
The younger brother of Blair Waldorf and a student at St. George’s. He was a constant joke when Serena and Blair were best friends, even dropping him off and making him walk home from the Lower East Side. He later got a girlfriend named Jasmine, who dated him because Blair is her role model. He is not mentioned in the TV series because Blair is known to be an only child.
Elise Wells
Jenny's best friend and a student at Constance Billard. She is incredibly tall, quite skinny and has 'thick, straw-like hair' and an upturned nose. She discovers homosexual attractions—which prove to be fleeting—and embraces Jenny. She falls in love with Dan who rejects her, but she eventually accepts his feelings and even encourages him to return with Vanessa, although she still loves him. Her dad, Owen Wells, is a Yale Interviewer, and interviews Blair. The two were attracted to one another until Blair found out that Owen was married and Elise is his daughter. She is portrayed by Emma Demar in the TV series.
Charlie Dern, Anthony Avuldsen, and Jeremy Scott Tompkison
Nate's friends, who also attend St. Jude's, spend their time smoking marijuana, and playing soccer in Central Park. They are not mentioned in the TV series.
[edit] TV series
Main article: Gossip Girl (TV series)
The TV adaptation, also titled Gossip Girl was picked up by The CW.[5] Josh Schwartz, the creator of The O.C., is executive producer for the project.[6] In the show, Blake Lively plays Serena, Leighton Meester plays Blair, Chace Crawford plays Nate, and Ed Westwick plays Chuck Bass. The show is based on the books but does not follow the same story line.
[edit] Criticism
The criticism of this series primarily revolves around whether the events depicted in the story are appropriate for the teenage audience the books attract.[7] American author and feminist Naomi Wolf calls the books "corruption with a cute overlay," and she claims that "sex saturates the Gossip Girl books.... This is not the frank sexual exploration found in a Judy Blume novel, but teenage sexuality via Juicy Couture, blasé and entirely commodified."[8]
Pam Spencer Holley, former YALSA President with the American Library Association (ALA), presents a different point of view, claiming simply to be "happy to see teen girls reading."[9] Confident that young girls will move onto more respected literature, she points out, "Unless you read stuff that's perhaps not the most literary, you'll never understand what good works are." She went on to say, "Nobody complains about the adult women who read Harlequin romances."[9] Holley created a new ALA book list to encourage teens to consult a list of recommendations for "both avid and reluctant readers, who are looking for books like Cecily von Ziegesar's Gossip Girl series. 'The books on this list are perfect for when your readers have finished with every Gossip Girl title in your library and are clamoring for another book like the Gossip Girl....'"[10]
The show boastfully quotes from disapproving newspaper reviews in advertisements displayed on billboards and the outside of buses. The quotes include "Very bad for you -- San Diego Union-Tribune" and "Every parent's nightmare -- Boston Herald". The quotes are superimposed on screen shots taken from show episodes of characters embracing and kissing.
[edit] External links
* Official Gossip Girl Facebook Page
[edit] References
1. ^ Emily Gould (2007-10-11). "Gossip Women: 'Gossip Girl' Creator Cecily von Ziegesar Is Pissed At Her Publisher". Gawker. http://gawker.com/news/gossip-women/gos ... 09862.php. Retrieved on 2008-06-28.
2. ^ Emily Nussbaum (2005-05-30). "Gossip Girl: The New Young Adult Novel - Adolescence Plus Wealth Equals Big Sales". New York Books. http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/books/12058/. Retrieved on 2008-06-28.
3. ^ McAdam, C. (2008-3-15). "Chatter In Classes". SundayHeraldSalon.com. Retrieved on 2008-8-28.
4. ^ "'Gossip Girl' Official Book Site". gossipgirl.net. Retrieved on 2009-2-15.
5. ^ "CW Gives Go-Ahead to 'Gossip Girl' Pilot". TVWeek.com. http://www.tvweek.com/news/2007/01/cw_g ... p_gir.php.
6. ^ Michael Schneider; Josef Adalian. "CW gives Schwartz some good news: 2nd pilot picked up for show creator". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR.html? ... &cs=1.
7. ^ "Teen-Targeted XXX Books". WorldNetDaily.com. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/artic ... _ID=59603. Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
8. ^ "Young Adult Fiction: Wild so wat hrhkegksd dhfksd fngdhf fjgjdfgh purj werjwejreeThings". NYTimes.com. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/books ... wolf.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-19.
9. ^ a b Linda Shrieves (2005-08-06). "Racy Reading; Gossip Girl Series is Latest Installment in Provocative Teen Fiction, and It's as Popular as It is Controversial". The Orlando Sentinel. http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/dail ... li276.htm. Retrieved on 2008-08-19.
10. ^ "YALSA Recommends Books For Young Adults Who Enjoy 'Gossip Girl' Series". Ala.org. 2006-04-11. http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases200 ... sipGi.htm. Retrieved on 2008-08-19. 
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