Rating: 
Summary: Great fun, not a great book
Review: This book is delightfully fun due to the transparent insider info the author provides about what it's really like to work for Vogue magazine. I worked for a woman who was a lot like the Anna Wintour -- oops, Miranda Priestly character in the book, so I could relate to a lot of the stories (our receptionist used to call ahead to warn us of my boss' imminent arrival, just like the Vogue/Runway receptionist in the book). However, despite Lauren Weissberger's efforts to cast herself/the protagonist as the victim and "Miranda Priestly" as the devil, the book doesn't work out that way. It would be one thing if Andrea (the protagonist) was throwing herself into her job full-bore and then putting up with relentless abuse, but Andrea makes it clear from the beginning that she is only in the gig for one year and she couldn't care less about fashion, her coworkers, or her boss. At one point Miranda points out to Andrea that her attitude is poor and she's noticed all of the pulled faces and huffy sighs Andrea's been doling out for the past eight months when she's asked to do something. Miranda has a point there -- I think if you're going to do a job, do it well, not grudgingly, and if you do do it grudgingly, then don't complain about how you're not given any respect. Andrea's boyfriend in the book is a petulant, egotistical brat who pouts when she can't call him in the exact half-hour time frame he designates. Hasn't this guy ever heard of a busy day? Sometimes it's hard to grab five spare minutes on a bad day to go to the bathroom, much less call your whiny boyfriend. All in all, a very entertaining book but not anything that's going to win the Pulitzer. If Weisberger's ambition -- like Andrea's -- is to write for the New Yorker, she's got some professional development to undergo before that becomes at all possible. This is a great book for a plane trip or a beach vacation, but it definitely won't enlighten you.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting for gossip-seeking readers
Review: While the writing style of Ms. Weisberger is energetic and engaging, the book remains a superficial read. If one is to believe Ms. Weisberger's claim (made on her appearance on the Today's show on NBC) that she wrote the book to provide an insight into fresh college graduate's experience on her first job, then this book is interesting (even though 99.9% of all graduates will have different experiences). What this book lacks is an in-depth description of the actual fashion business -- and Ms. Wiesberger apparently had unprecedented access to important sources. Regrettably she dwells on the idiosyncrasies of her boss' lunch orders, schedule, office politics and the like, leaving one to think what an intresting book this could have been had Ms. Weisberger taken the opportunity more seriously.
Rating: 
Summary: Too long for what it is
Review: Andrea Sachs, recently graduated from Brown and still recovering from a case of amoebic dysentery picked up during a post-graduate world tour, goes to work at Runway magazine as the junior assistant to the editor-in-chief, Miranda Priestly. Although she's not remotely interested in the fashion world, she takes the job (which "a million girls would kill for") because she sees it as a springboard to the career she wants at the New Yorker. In short order, she finds the job she doesn't even care about, and her ultra-demanding boss, are consuming her entire life, creating problems with her boyfriend, and cutting her off from her friends.There you have pretty much the entire plot in a nutshell. I won't tell you the ending, which is pretty predictable anyway. The strength of this book is not in the story itself, which actually reads more like a memoir like a novel. The intrigue of this book is in the look that it gives you at the workings of a major fashion magazine. The author was an assistant to Anna Wintour at Vogue, and despite the name changes, it's clear that we're getting an inside look at Ms. Wintour and her world, right down to the famed Vogue Closet, full of Prada pants, Gucci bags, and Manolo Blahniks and Jimmy Choos, which might be yours if you took the time to make friends with the right people. But the intrigue is just not that intriguing. There are some entertaining moments, certainly -- the panic that ensues when the staff discovers Miranda is coming into the office after several weeks away is pretty funny -- but the book is just too long, the plotline too simple (I might even say boring), and even the voyeuristic enjoyment you get from a tell-all tale wears thin long before the book comes to an end.
Rating: 
Summary: no plot, no point, no style....
Review: Although she was given an enormous opportunity to work alongside some of the most eccentric, talented, influential, and fashionable people in the world, Lauren W. failed to capture her experience on even the most obvious level. The biggest problem with the book is that it doesn't say anything - lists of tasks and errands do not make for fascinating reading. The characters at the magazine are oversimplified when seen through the eyes of our narrator, whose snotty attitude prevents her from seeing deeper than the designer clothes. This book is just a bitter tome written by an angry girl who cashed in on the name of the woman who employed her - employed her when no one else was offering. Unfortunately the narrator's insecurities about her lack of "perfect hair, perfect shoes,perfect body..." prevented her from seeing anything at the magazine other than that.
Rating:
Summary: Pure unadulterated garbage
Review: I can't believe I wasted my money on this...! My third-grade cousin is far more skilled at plot development than Weisberger will ever be....if you're really in the mood for an expose, just reread Nanny Diaries - trust me, it will be far more satisfying.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible - read the real thing
Review: It's hard to believe [she] could somehow publish a book on the subject. My advice, as someone who endured the seasonal presentations, is to read the professional publications and NOT this opportunistic...version of events. Give it up, baby.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing but hype. Awful.
Review: I'd like to be nice about this-the author is young-but I can't be nice and honest at the same time. This is one of the worst books I've ever read. Motivated to purchase it by the hype and looking for something juicy, "The Devil Wears Prada" was not much more than a great title. The author simply cannot hide behind her experience as onetime assistant to Vogue's Anna Wintour no matter how much she expects us to believe this was a product of an overactive imagination making things up at four in the morning. First of all, it's poorly written-filled with flat peripheral characters-and includes passive voice, clichés and sentences ending in prepositions (HORRORS!) for which she actually apologizes since she, and by she I of course mean her main character, fancies herself a talented and educated writer headed for a position with "The New Yorker." Without a doubt it is a thinly veiled product of the author's personal experience, which may have been easier to swallow if she didn't write in the first person. This main character, Andrea Sachs, a junior personal assistant to the most influential woman in fashion, is as loathsome and arrogant as her boss, the she-devil named Miranda Priestly. I would have loved to hate the demanding and rude Miranda, but in this story she is a boring, two-dimensional villain. The only reason I stayed with it for over 330 pages was so that I could see just how this lowly assistant would finally leave her hellish enslavement. And even that was terribly unsatisfactory. What could have been a truly triumphant moment, turned into a squeak ("that's all!") and an opportunity to profit on the resale of thousands of dollars worth of designer clothes she'd "borrowed" from the magazine's "closet." Ms. Wiesenberger may have just signed the book deal a "million girls would die for," but this sort of kiss-and-tell book-a mere opportunity to name drop and dish the rich and famous-reeks of bitterness and naiveté. (Writing this review makes me feel the same way!) The only thing I can say I truly enjoyed was her dedication and acknowledgments. Now that writing was witty. As for the rest of it, save your money. If you like this kind of thing and want something dishy, read The Nanny Diaries instead.
Rating:
Summary: This book insults the intelligence of an educated reader!
Review: I would rate this book at less than one star, but I give it one star for the title which urged me to buy it. Not only is the book written by someone who has the literary skills of a junior high school student, but the story line is one dimensional and silly.
Also, I'm starting to believe that the ugly business of product placement,is creeping into American "literature", (if you want to call this stuff literature). In the first chapter alone I must have counted at least a half a dozen references to product marketed by or for Americans, everything from a big black Lincoln Nav, to "Manolo's, to Jimmy Choo. Is this author earning a little or even a lot of money on the side by taking from marketing agencies?
This novel is about as satisfying as a bag of potato chips or a Big Mac. (Oh, excuse me, it was Burger King that is mentioned in chapter 18). I would not recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good satisfying read. Actually, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone at all. I'm ashamed of myself for buying it. For some reason I thought it would be an interesting and thought provoking study on the fashion buying habits and trends of America. But it's not. After all, that kind of study would require a great deal of research and time, and this book feels to me like it was written over a period of a weekend.
If you are the type of individual who is searching for a clever and thought provoking analysis of American fashion and style trends, or if you enjoy a well written work of fiction, this book is not for you. Sorry!
Rating:
Summary: Fun in the vein of "The Nanny Diaries"...but reader beware
Review: If you liked the "The Nanny Diaries," you will probably like this book. The reader warning is this: if you like good writing (strongly written characters, strong plotline, things like that), get another book. To be honest, I think the author should have stuck with stories about her experience at work (much more fun to read about a ridiculously demanding boss, free designer clothes and running around in Jimmy Choo heels all day than supposed character development tangents involving increasingly strained relationships with her boyfriend and troubled best friend). In short, I think she should have focused on the job; it was hilarious to read about the world of high fashion and the people who inhabit it--but there was too much focus on the main character's personal life and motivations. A fun, mindless read nevertheless--a step up from watching reruns on TV, if you will.
Rating: 
Summary: an absolute page turner
Review: The Devil Wears Prada is one of the most amusing books I have read in quite some time. The story of a recent Cornell graduate, "Andrea Sachs"... a.k.a. the author, Lauren Weisberger, who goes to work at "Runway" magazine for "Miranda Priestley"... the editor and chief of the magazine... anyone with even half a brain realizes that this is the story of her brief stint at Vogue magazine, as assistant to editor Anna Wintour. Needless to say, her time at the magazine was above and beyond unpleasant, as the boss is horrifically nasty, and generally scary. I've read so many reviews of this book both online, and in print, and I must say that I disagree with most of what has been said of this, Lauren Weisberger's first book. In my opinion, so many book reviewers and editors have lambasted this novel, not because of it's content, but because of the absolute power that Wintour holds in the publishing world. Others weren't gutsy enough to even go near it, with the exception of one review, which stated that Lauren Weisberger has guts. Yes, I agree that getting to work at 7:30 in the morning isn't the worst thing, and I definitely wouldn't call Amnesty International over it, but the amount of psychological torture that this young girl was put under, is to say the least, absurd. For those of you who love the gossip columns, and love to hear the insider dish of the fashion world, I recommend this book whole-heartedly... although to some, it may hit close to home. It's not as if Anna Wintour holds any mystique. She's simply a miserable human being who makes those around her miserable as well. In conclusion I would like to add that all the money, prestige and style in the world cannot buy class. Ms. Wintour, you should be ashamed, and the people that enable this behavior should hang their heads as well.
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