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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: Characterizations ring very true
Review: I found this much talked about book to be pleasant escape. My reading interests generally prefer a story with some plot while this book is really devoid of that. Instead, The Nanny Diaries is just that -- a year in the life of Nanny, what she sees and what she feels. I complement the authors who handle so well the images they paint through Nanny's eyes of the yuppie parents and moneyed class. Their characterizations ring very true. Another joy was their clever mix of Nanny's politically correct dialogue followed immediately with her truly sarcastic, inner thoughts. "Right on, Nanny," was my reaction. Nice job, ladies.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Nanny Catharsis
Review: I'm trying to figure out why The Nanny Diries is one of the most famous and talked books of 2002. Many people read this novel, and it is not a literary gem, but it is good, since it is so sincere and honest. As we all know the book tells the story of a nanny who works for a very wealthy family in New York, and she tells us all the problems an joys of her job.

Maybe for dramatic purpose the X family is a bit caricatic but they work as characters. Everyone knows women like Mrs X who doesn't care all their kids, and let another woman take care of them in every field. Mr X is also a bad father, husband etc. Actually I think they are terrible as human beings. What scares me is that we know there are people just like them out there. We all have met many.

I felt very sorry for the boy. And I was glad that Nanny was very nice and genle to him, despite everything she felt for his parents. I wonder what kind of adult will a child became having such a childhood without mother love. They don't see their son as a kid, but just as a thing they can use to promote themselves. What is the point of making the child face interviews to get into a school? Poor Grayer, had to face all that just for his mother own satisfaction. I think we all get upset with the Xs.

The last chapter is very strong and I feel it as a catharsis for the two writers --former nannies-- when they said (wrote) everything they always thought and wanted to tell to parents but they couldn't for many reasons. I think that only in the last chapter I realized the seriouness of this novel. More than a novel it is a yell to the world, telling 'Parents love your kids above all things'.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I was furious!!!
Review: I read this book in one sitting ( I really couldn't put it down!), but all the same, it really made me angry. I used to be a nanny, and the things that Nan put up with were totally uncalled for! I couldn't believe that someone would actually put up with all of that. I am not sure if the authors would really have reacted that way in real life, or if they would just like it if everyone thinks that they would. It feels as though the authors wanted us to picture them as some sort of saints or something. I think this book would have been a lot better if Nan had been a little more real and a little more feisty, and a LOT less long suffering!!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Page Turner but...Where Does One Find This Perfect Nanny?
Review: This is definitely a quick read and amusing if not depressing at times.

I am a native new yorker and used to be an investment banker so I can vouch for the existence the X family. Scary but true. After the Jack Grubman nursery school fiasco, it would appear that Mr. X was most remiss not pulling the right strings to get Grayer into Collegiate!!

One part of the book rings hollow: the devoted Nanny who just adores her charges and works like a dog and gets exploited. Maybe in foreign lands but in NY nannies get paid a ton and won't even clean up after the kids. All you need to do is walk through the upper east side and central park to see scores of nannies pushing strollers with as much enthusiasm as a DMV employee. The kids look equally melancholy and their attempts to initiate conversation are met with very disinterested grunting. It's remarkably depressing to see this.

It always amazes me that the richest allow their children to be raised with so little attention and affection. One of the reasons I will only work part-time while my children are small is that it's almost impossible to find a decent nanny who will truly care for your children in New York.

The authors should have been able to charge $1000 per week if their nanny skills are really what they say they are. Really. Hardly exploitation, is it?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A funny caricature of nanny life
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Don't be put off thinking its a book about nauseating children, it is a perfect satire on the lives of Manhattan's rich, vacuous and clueless parents. I shudder to think that there are real Mrs X's out there. The book was hilarious and engaging, I enjoyed every minute of it.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Mother Theresa Would Have Belted Her for Being a Doormat
Review: A predictable tale populated by stick figures so shallow, and so binary in their boundless goodness or unbridled horridness, that it makes the characters of TV nadirs like Dallas and Bay Watch seem like the deeply-nuanced creations of 19th century literary masters. The heroic martyr in the middle is of course our narrator the nanny. Her unshakable loyalty to her little charge, and resulting tolerance for comedic levels of exploitation by his vile parents, makes the protagonist of Uncle Tom's Cabin seem like a hotheaded gangsta rapper by comparison.

My own experience with nannies has sadly been limited to that of the willful little brat under surveillance, as by the time my own progeny came on the scene the family fortunes had deteriorated enough as to make the help of forbearing young saints like McLaughlin and Kraus unaffordable.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Good Read
Review: I could not put the book down. In fact, I read it in 36 hours. Written by former nannies, this novel takes a behind the scenes look at America's most wealthy parents. It chronicles the experience of fictional 'Nanny' and her care of the X family. The wealthy X family does not pay even the slightest amount of attention to their only son, Grayer. Nanny's hilarious experiences with the family, her love of Grayer, and the amazing world in which they live make this book a total delight.

My favorite parts invariably included Mrs. X. I read with amazement at her complete denial of reality. I also found Nanny's inner thoughts about the family insightful and amusing. Make sure you have little else to do when you start reading or the desire to know what will happen next will be maddening.

A word of advice: Read this novel for what it is. Some past reviewers expect a literary masterpiece. That it is not. Simply put, it's a good read. Additionally, do not expect a happy, Hollywood ending. There is a satisfying conclusion to the novel but, unlike the TV, dysfunctional families won't always change.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sooo good!
Review: This book is hilariously entertaining with almost every page of outlandish demands from the Park Avenue "Mrs. X" for her son's "Nanny", but it's also hard not to feel sorry for all of the main characters. Depending on how you look at it, they all (including the Xes) have sad situations, money and luxuries aside. Sometimes I didn't know whether to hate the child's parents for neglecting their son and taking "Nanny" for granted or sympathize with them for not having the perfect marriage they try to emulate. Right or wrong, "The Nanny Diaries" is a great book that will make you laugh and maybe even cry. I would not suggest it for younger readers, though, because of some stronger language. But any book that can make me laugh out loud is definitely worth a read.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very Much Worth it!
Review: I LOVED this book! I laughed, Cried, Winced, and smiled. It covers every emotion on the scale but it keeps with the story. I passed on my copy to all of my friends and each one loved it also.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: love it
Review: This book is every bit as witty and entertaining as its purported to be. I have handed this book out to my family and friends and insisted they read it.


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