Rating: 
Summary: Funny and Shocking!
Review: I had some reservations about this novel. Just from looking at the cover, I had a feeling that it would be another Bridget-Jonesy type of book (which is fine; I loved Bridget Jones, but wasn't sure I wanted to read another of that genre). However, I went ahead and read it because I'd been reading a lot of really heavy, depressing novels lately and I needed a pick-me-up, something that would make me laugh. The Nanny Diaries was an excellent choice.As a mom, you hear all sorts of stories, and see many other mothers who fit the descriptions in this book exactly. I think that?s what I loved most about it...to see a nanny make fun of upscale moms who have babies (for what reason, we don't know) and then hand them off to nannies to raise, while the mothers go shopping, get manicures, go to parties, go off to the Caribbean, etc. The style in which McLaughlin and Kraus describe this sad and offensive phenomenon is totally hilarious. I also love their references to life among the elite residing on Park Avenue, from their toddlers' (I mean, UNDER five years old) ridiculous schedules (French, piano, karate, etc.) to their macrobiotic diets (mind you, the moms never actually cook like this?only "the help"), to their names...Grayer? Benson? Cristabelle?? It's a wonderful look on how an insane amount of money and living in the world of the social elite can really warp one's grip on reality. The story revolves around Nan, a young, soon-to-be graduating student from NYU, who is hired to take care of four-year-old Grayer X. As she develops her relationship with Grayer, she is suddenly witness to a romantic interlude that Mr. X has with his work colleague. Nan continues to work under these awkward conditions, until Mrs. X finds out that her marriage is crumbling. The way things progressed in this story was kind of shocking because as much as Mrs. X was selfish, clueless and completely uncool as a mother, let alone as a human being, it was funny. It made me laugh. Yet near the end, she started to resemble the evil, wicked stepmother from "Cinderella." She and her husband's behaviors were shocking and disturbing. Unfortunately, I can't say that it was unrealistic because I've actually seen people act this way. The most interesting thing about this book was the way Nan's and Grayer's relationship developed and evolved. Also his parents' lack of attention to his needs increasingly affected him in such a blatant, obvious way. Yet instead of actually spending more time with him, they blamed Nan for not taking her job seriously. That was maddening! The fact that the authors were nannies themselves proves that they had a wealth of experience to draw upon and I'm sure that although this is a work of fiction, much of the material didn't just come out of nowhere. It really drives the point home that nannies deserve a little respect for their profession, they're doing some pretty hard work. In addition, it shows very clearly that firing/hiring caretakers every year or so has such a unnecessary and traumatic effect on children. I'd also like to add that as an ordinary mother (without a nanny), reading this book made me feel like the quintessential supermom. So if anything, get it for that reason!
Rating:
Summary: true to life
Review: An deadly accurate picture of boorish NYC investment bankers and their shrill, desperate wives. What I did not find believable is that the nanny stayed so long and was such a doormat. I began disliking her after a while when most people would have spoke their mind and given notice.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny at first. Tiresome halfway through.
Review: I was hesitant to pick up this book, fearing it was another one of those Bridget Jones knock-off's. I finally caved and checked it out from the library. I'm a nanny, and although the family I nanny for right now is fantastic, I've certainly had some terrible experiences in my past. At first, the book is funny, and it's cool to peak into the upper echelon's of Manhattan's residents. BUT, after about 100 pages of reading about Nanny's experiences and her disregard for herself, I was irritated, and the laughter stopped. (I also found it silly that her name was Nanny- I'm sure it's meant to be some kind of statement about how all nanny's are interchangeable, just like the parents names: Mr. and Mrs. X, but this book isn't deep enough to utilize any quasi-profound ideas- it's just annoying!) Nanny has the backbone of a worm. She continually repeats she's doing it for the child, and the money, but that excuse falls flat after awhile. The parents are monsters and they treat her with no respect what so ever. I was confused by Nanny's money problems. She attends an ivy league school, has parents and a grandmother who seem well-off, and also, mind you, keep telling her to quit, so I didn't understand why she couldn't get financial help from them- she never explains this. The end was unsatisfying- I closed the book thinking, "Wow. THIS is a best seller?" Oh well, fluff sells. I suggest you read something else. If you want to laugh and read something intelligent and entertaining, check-out Lorrie Moore's "Self-Help."
Rating: 
Summary: Oh Nanny!
Review: I am so very fond of this fine novel. I just completed it. One in my position questions whether or not I myself *am* Mrs. X... for I wear the same clothes, participate in the same activities, and don a different Hermes Birkin or Kelly with each changing week. My son's name has a G in it too. Oh well-- someone has finally blown the lid off my world. Toodles! -MRS X.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I found this book very much over-hyped and not at all what i was expecting. It started out promising, a young college student and her adventures and misadventures in the nanny world, dealing with spoilt, bratty rich kids and the out-of-this-world expectations of their parents, but after a while this grew old. Sure, it was humourous and eye-opening to catch a peek of how the "upper class" live but I couldn't help browing irritated at the protagonist, Nanny's spinelessness and dare i say it unflagging selflessness. It was just too much! Maybe thats why the job of nannying goes to so little people...but still, it started to get beyond ridiculous.
Also, i found that the immense focus on the nannying part of story allowed for huge holes in the rest of the plot...I wanted more of Nanny's social life not more descriptions of her client's child.
Rating:
Summary: Good book but after a while I wanted to skip to the end
Review: Sure this book is cute, a first person novel all the way from a smart well grounded young woman who seems to have come from a rich very wonderful family that is still in her life, as she finishes her senior year at NYU. That is the problem, we have this girl bend over backward for the love of this little boy and her job that seems like she has just to prove her independance. It starts out that Nanny just wants to work "part time" and then quickly moves to a full time 45 hours doing crazy bending over backwards and being treated like dirt because of her supposed bond for a four year old.
Ummm... I was sick of Nanny by the time I got half way through the book. You never see her do any reflecting on WHY she lets her self be a footstool to her employers other then her connection with thier child. The book is a contradiction between Nanny being completely NIEVE and being completely grounded, and it ends up not making a lot of sense. As wonderful as Nannies family seems and WHY nanny insists on living in New York if the whole book is about how expensive it is, and Why she doesn't just get a student loan if she is taking a full classload... it perplexes me. Instead the book leaves a lot of little questions unanswered and you see this strong woman breakdown little by little even though she does an amazing job being human. At the same time the story starts a romance with a boy that you know by H.H. (Harvard Hottie) but it leaves this side story extremely under developed.
I gave this book a three because even though the book was written well, it only gives you a fisheyed perspective of one character with only the SMALLEST socail developement leaving out major life details so you you purposely can not get attatched to any character. You never get to know what any character is thinking or grow much sympathy other then to keep on saying to yourself... Oh my that family/woman/x is crazy, or oh how wonderful. Lastly the ending was trite... expected but not fulfilling, and with many loose ends which are not important to the story but in general leave you just the more disconnected from Nanny's life other then her limited jaundiced Job that the story is about. This book ends up being only about all the little stories that the authors collected in their jobs that made up what they conglamerated into the X family. Which ended up leaving me VERY empty. I can't imagine recommending it to anyone even though it was mildly in a dark sense enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Maddening but funny
Review: I wanted to strangle two people in this book: Mrs. X, for being such a cold-hearted witch, and Nanny for taking all she took off this woman. I could not put this book down and I felt so sorry for poor little Grayer...I could see why Nanny loved him and wanted to make sure she provided some stability in his life, but I couldn't understand why she took all the abuse she took from her employers in order to try and "save" this child. She ultimately would have had to leave him in their rotten hands anyway sooner or later, and did. The way her employment with the X family ends is infuriating and heartbreaking. God help the real children out there who are raised like little Grayer.
Rating:
Summary: Why can't there be more books like this?
Review: This novel is probably the most enjoyable I have read in awhile. It is an easy and enjoyable read, and to dismiss it as chick/fluff literature would be a mistake. I found this to be just as great the second time through as the first. Nanny, the narrator, provides a humorous and satirical look into the truth behind child-rearing in the high society of New York City. Because two former nannies are the authors, there is truth behind her employers' seemingly unbelievable antics. Nanny is the employee of the Xes, whose 4 year old son, Grayer, is her charge. She takes the job as a way to help her pay her way through college (where she is studying to hopefully land a job involving children) and to get some extra cash. The descriptions of Grayer display his adorable innocence and confusion at why his mommy can't simply give him a hug, or why his daddy is never there. This novel, although in general very humorous, made me feel heartbroken for the little guy when he cries out for his absent parents, and it is even more sad when they choose to ignore him. Throughout the novel, the reader follows Nanny as she gets worked to her very last nerve,putting up with her frustrations surrounding the Xes and school. This book is a page turner and kept me up until the early hours of the morning, as Nanny's experiences get more and more unbelievable. The somewhat sarcastic tone of this story tells the reader that the even the authors are incredulous of their experiences. The development of the characters is wonderful, and is the main component to why this book is so enjoyable. When finished, it left me wishing there were more books like this. It has all of the ingredients for a good read. Anyone looking for a generally entertaining, humorous, sometimes sad, and satirical story should definitely check this out.
Rating: 
Summary: not worth your time or money
Review: i just finished this book, and all i can say is: "i want my money back". ... the characters in this book are completely shallow, the situations often take unexpected yet disappointing twists, and the only thing that will keep you reading is the bleak hope that something interesting will happen. i'll save you the time: nothing interesting happens. in the whole book. ever.
Rating:
Summary: I want more!
Review: I loved this book! I wish it were longer, as I wanted to read more. I am a 29 year old mother of two children (a two year old and a four month old), and this book really puts things into perspective. My children are my life...it's really sad to read that to this family of upper class NYC society, a child is meerly a status symbol to dress in Ralph Lauren and to send to French lessons. I gave my children a big old hug after reading this story...
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