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HEN youthink ofnouelistandformer"Ser andthe City"colum-nist

Candace Bushnell - theprototype for Carrie(Sarah Jessica Parker) onHBO's "Sex and the City"

- three words corne tomind: Tall. Blond. Attrac-tive. Yet, sit and chat withher a while and you'll findyourself adding one rnore:Goofy - which we meanin the nicest way.

Not at all the ice prin-cess of her author photofor"4 Blondes," her cur''rent

bestseller, Bushnell isway too chatty and blithefor this to be an act. Sure,'she's

sheathed in a Pradachiffon dress and match-ing shoes for a talk withfreelance writer FrankLouece at a half-hiddenperty space in Chelsea,but that's because she'sjust been interuiewed for aBritish documentaryabqut " Ab solutely F ab u-lous," the British comedyabout two fast women.

Raised in Glastonbury,Conn., on a three'acreestate with two sisters andthree horses, Bushnell, 42,briefly attended Rice Uni-uersity in Houston, whereshe met photographer-di-rector Gordon Parks("Shaft"). She joined himin New York to pursueacting and, wound' upwriting for such maga-zines as Vogue and Self.

- Freelancing for TheNew York

Obseruer ledto her column there

about the matingrituals of rich

Manhattan

writing anouel aboutJaney Wil-cox, one ofthe *4

Blondes,"Bushnell isherself oneblondebeingdiSitaUyinserted,"ForrestGump"-like,into scenesu' riiiiii' ..series "thirty-

something." Theshits serue as

introductions toBrauo's rerunning

of the 1987-91 ABC series, beginningMonday.

llow does sex and the Gity compate withsex and the suburbs?

You know (laughing), I'm alwaYs so

aflaid ofsex in the suburbs. In thebook "Sex and the City," there are twochapters where the girls go to thesuburbs, and what I found out was inthe suburbs, all these people are mar-ried and having affairs! In New York,everybody's single, so if they're havingaffairs or sleeping with each other, itdoesn't really matter. But I am souf"uia of tft" kind of place where peopl'emeet on the train, then they get offthetrain in Greenwich or the Five Townsor whatever, go someplace and have adrink, and then go and have sex in acar or something. And then theY go

home to their families! I find thatshocking! (She laughs again.)

One ol the things guys say about "Sexand the Gity" is: Here are these attractive'intelligent, plofessional women who moan

There's that ilch Part again!If you're a great guy without a lot of

money, women will deal with You.There are rich jerks who always man-age to find women - I mean, thereare. But women usually figure it outpretty quickly, and then they make funof him in the ladies' room.

The truth is, women want a guYwho'll make a commitment. Whetheror not you have money doesn't haveanything to do with the fact of makinga commitment or not. I think thewomen in this city are so patient withmen. They'll go out with then for acouple ofyears, they'll decorate theirapartments, pick up their dry cleaning,thev're so kind and so nice to themlher voice rises], and they'll think theguy really loves them, and then thisguy just turns around and it's lmalevoicel, "Ooh, I don't want to get rnar-ried." [Angrily] Well, the guy would'vebeen lucky that that girl was eventalking to himl lSofter] But men don'tget that. r

and groan how theY can'tattract men lol meaningfulrelationship$. But what theYmean is theY can't attlactrict men.

No. Guys always saythat. But the realitY isdating has gotten worsein the.city. I've gone tooarties filled with blondiuo*"tt - they're all 6feet tall now - withincredible bodies, the/rereally nice, and I'll talk tothem and say, "Oh, gosh,you guys must have somany dates." And they'lljust look at me, andthey're like, "We haven'thad a date for a year!" Idon't understand it. Inevery city I went to whenI was on my book tour, Iwas like, tOK, this mustbe the city where singlegirls can go and frnd ahusband if they wantedone." Then I would talk tothe single women, andthey would say the samething: There €rre no menhere.

There ate no Mr. Blgsthere.

Wellll. No. Maybe.Idon't know. This Englishfriend of mine came toNew York, since he wastold there was this bigman shortage, so hewould have all.thesedates. And he went backto England and wrote,"There isn't a shortage ofmen in New York.There's a shortage oftall,rich men with all theirhair."

That's all I'm saying.But some of the sexiest

men in town are shortand rich and bald.

media types.Currently