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The Nanny Diaries

The Nanny Diaries

List Price: $25.00
Your Price: $15.75
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Quick & engrossing read.
Review: I enjoyed Emma McLaughlin's writing style and I became easily engrossed. The writing is charming along with its struggling student/nanny heroine. Besides the fact that I found it annoying that the titled character was a nanny who, was, in fact, named Nanny, it was easy to become attached to characters. You felt the pangs of disbelief and anxiety that Nanny suffers through her bouts with the X-es. As her relationship with Grayer (the child) grows, you too, become involved and overly concerned with the welfare of a child who appears to be overlooked by his own parents. This attachment to the characters is associated with the downfall of the novel in its unsatisfying ending. After the terrible treatment that Nanny suffers from the X-es (despite her dedication and loyalty to Grayer), the novel culminates in her inevitable job dismissal. Somehow, Nanny finds redemption for all the sh*t she puts up with by telling off the hidden "nanny-cam" that was disguised as a teddy bear?!? (or worst yet, a new puppy named Grace?!? How can nanny's love and care for Grayer be easily replaced by a four-legged creature? Is her next odd job consists of her caring for animals instead of children due to the exteme emotional attachment?) The reader never sees the X-es reaction nor the change in action within the X-es. Throughout the novel, the reader holds on to the slight hope that the X-es will change there ways and reach a point of realization of priorities when it comes to their only son; but, this never comes. The novel ended abruptly without ever knowing what will become of Grayer. Was this ending intentional to further emphasize the blunt impact Nanny had on the lives of dysfunctional wealthy families? If it is, then, I agree with another reviewer; this is just a sad story and a cynical look on the trivialities that invade people of affluence.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Vacation Book
Review: The Nanny Diaries is the perfect vacation novel. It has a light yet dry tone is fun and easy to read. Although the story line and relationships between characters don't have much depth that is part of the charm.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Fabulous Read
Review: Once I started reading this book I couldn't put it down. It is really well-written and has a way of engulfing the reader into the story, heart and soul. It is sad and gut-wrenching at times - my heart goes out to poor little Grayer being raised by such whackos - but it is also very funny and the descriptives are spot on. These two women are very talented authors, and I am now going to look for anything else they've written!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: boring
Review: This book was slow and boring. The only reason I kept reading it was to see if she ever told the X's off-which she didn't.
I felt like burning this book after I finished it because it was so disappointing.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: why bother
Review: I kept asking myself why I was bothering to read this book. I guess the answer was that I was on a boat. Why anyone would feel it was ok to put up with the abuse that was ladled out to Nanny is a mystery. Aside from Greyer you feel sorry for no one. I did finish it because I always finish books I have gotten half way through and because I didn't have anything else to read. The blurbs on the cover stating that it is absolutely side splitting was stupid. Any reviewer who stated that should be fired.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Book & So True
Review: As a daycare teacher for many years, eons ago, I recognized this in many parents. They have a child for show, nothing else. This is the realistic and unfortunate side of being a Nanny. Yes, this is a fictional book, but we all know it was researched well. Very good read. I'm a slow read and read this quite fast. I didn't want to put it down but I didn't want it to end either.
Great Book, definate must read!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good except for offensive language
Review: This is a wonderful story detailing the everyday joys and humiliations of Nanny's relationship with her sweet, normal little charge and his heartless, egocentric parents. I fell in love with Nanny and Grayer both.
However, the story would have been just as good without all the f-words and a lot easier to read.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: So realistic!!!
Review: I really liked this book because it is just the truth!! I am an expert babysitter and i can relate!! I have been babysitting for many different families full time and i found myself laughing when i realised how close to the reality what the author was describing was!!

It is a fun book to read and i recommend it especially to people who like me suffered from babysitting for some CRAAZY people!!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: the pop psychology of the book world
Review: It was an enjoyable, light read that manages to evoke feelings of sympathy and indignation even while the reader is fully aware that the book's main goal is to evoke said emotions. This is a story about a nanny who cares for the son of a wealthy New York couple. As her stint progresses, she becomes more and more aware of the true nature of the elite society that creates the need for nannies and the bi-atch that is her employer. She stays, however, for the sake of her young charge and endures a series of ever-worsening demands and situations. Reading about what she goes through is like being mentally constipated, as the pressure builds and you just can't wait any longer for Nanny to just blow up at her employer and quit but she doesn't. Though Nanny Diaries provides quick-witted social commentary, it's far too simple and predictable a tale to be anything more than a cookie-cutter story with flat, 2D characters. Though it provides more blanket generalizations (for the shock value) than accurate reflections of society, it still has its roots in actual events. Nanny Diaries is a fun, mindless way to pass the time, much like gossip columns. A word of warning: brand-name dropping is ubiquitous in this book so if you don't know your Manolo Blaniks from your Hermes bags, you're going to be left with less-than-rich imagery or have to watch a lot more Sex and the City.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Been there, done that
Review: The title is interesting. The rest of the book is obnoxious. New York lush spends her days taking care of rich people's children while trying to bed the downstairs neighbor. 'Nanny' is all about judging other peoples lives while selling your own for hard currency and the occasional Prada reject. The authors take pains to let their audience know they're no ordinary third world nanny (she speaks FRENCH and is white!) and spends the entire novel making snide comments about her employers and their children. "'Can I have a cookie now?' Grayer sits up, ready to be rewarded for his efforts". Just like a dog. Get it? Grayer is the child she is supposedly hired to take care of. The novel is one long diatribe against the egocentric and shallow rich folks she chooses to work for. There is even a scene were Nanny is mistaken for a rich parent, just to drive home the point that we're all equal as long as we speak French and are white. Read the Bonfire of the Vanities and if there is still a doubt in your mind as to how rich people live, then read one of the hundreds of other books that have been written about the NY super rich. Then read the National Enquirer and you don't even have to bother with this book. I find it amusing that the author can look down her nose at her employers while sneaking drinks, stumbling from bar to bar around NY, hot after the guy downstairs who although he is rich, meets her criteria because he has long hair and disgusting furniture in his apartment. She gives us the startling insight that servants often know more about their employer's lives than their employers. Wow. See every British film ever made if you need any clarification on this one. The only satire going on in this piece of trash is the unintended observation that if you sell your soul for some hard cash and perks, you can always feel better by writing an expose. I did enjoy reading a novel that never caused me to reach for my dictionary; this is strictly eighth grade writing class material. Mercifully, this will probably be the last novel by this dynamic duo, as they've obviously plumbed the depths of their writing talent. Then again, maybe there is room for a Nanny Diaries Deux. God forbid.


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