ALMOST CARRIE ~ Magical Realism

I am endlessly defending the validity and realism of Sex and the City* in this column, and so this week I thought I’d change things up and try to expose one of its flaws. I didn’t have to think about it for too long. There is one seemingly horrible misrepresentation, one fraudulent, grotesque, Hollywood aspect of the show that I was never, despite all my enthusiasm, able to buy: Carrie’s career.

I, like Carrie, am a writer.  I type my little column on my little MacBook Pro in my little apartment, and I make little money doing it. To be frank, I got paid exactly once for a piece. I have other jobs that are writing-related (I edit, I fact-check, I tutor the odd student), and of course I also have jobs that are not writing-related (giving Sex and the City tours).

Obviously, there are plenty of writers out there who are far more successful than me. The truth is though, that I’ve yet to meet even one who doesn’t supplement their income in some way. Famous novelists are also editors-at-large. Celebrated young essayists edit web content. My professors in graduate school—all of them published, well-respected authors—still schlepped around to M.F.A. programs to lead workshops and make ends meet. Even Jennifer Egan, the woman who took home last year’s Pulitzer Prize and my personal hero, takes journalism assignments for extra money. Carrie’s one-column-a-week lifestyle always seemed a bit absurd.

Writer Candace Bushnell during her 'Observer' days

So in preparation for this week’s “Almost Carrie,” I did a little research. As any diligent SATC fan can tell you, “Carrie Bradshaw” is the alter ego of real-life writer Candace Bushnell. In the early ‘90s, Ms. Bushnell worked at the New York Observer and, based on the popularity of some of her articles, was commissioned to write a weekly column. She titled that column “Sex and the City.” I found out that, because the column was so popular and generated so many ad sales, she got paid one thousand dollars for each installment.

In 2012, this kind of compensation would be a stretch. Now, with thousands of bloggers writing for the Huff Post for free, not many print columnists see that kind of money every week. But in the mid-90s, Candace Bushnell (and hence Carrie Bradshaw) grossed a cool $4,000 a month. With a $750 rent-controlled apartment, no car payments, no kids, no heating bills (heat is included in New York rent), no cell phone bill, no savings, and her infamous credit card debt, it is entirely possible that Carrie could eat and drink her way around Manhattan in designer shoes on only one measly column per week.

I humbly withdraw my accusation.

* The series, not the films.

Emily Sproch is a writer and a Sex and the City tour guide. Each Friday, she chronicles the fine line between reality and fiction in her column “Almost Carrie.”