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Summary: A CAA AGENT SAYS
Review: THIS BOOK REMINDED ME OF EVERYTHING ABOUT THE BIZ I'VE LEARNED ALONG THE WAY. I WON'T BE SURPRISED IF "DEVELOPMENT GIRL" BECOMES REQUIRED READING FOR AGENCY TRAINEES AND ASSISTANTS ALL OVER TOWN!
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Summary: Smartly Written Book Transcends Its Genre
Review: This smartly written book is well informed by its famous pop-predecessors like "Sex and The Single Girl," "The Official Preppie Handbook" and "You'll Never Eat Lunch In This Town Again." Indeed, Ms. Davis, its savvy, deft author succeeds in transcending several pop genres at once: "The How-To Library," "The Rules Dating Tomes" and "The Hollywood Tell-Alls" (not to mention Humor Books, and Idiots Guide Collections). The result is a book that is a humorous guide not just to the film business, but to life. Ms. Davis emerges as the modern-day Helen Gurly Brown (whose husband, legendary producer David Brown, contributed to the book incidentally).
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Summary: A+!!!!!
Review: Not only is author Hadley Davis' advice about the movie business both hysterical and informative, but the advice she collects from industry heavies is amazing. It was so interesting to read what senior executives at places like DREAMWORKS SKG, FOX and MIRAMAX; producers of blockbusters such as LETHAL 4; mogul types like RUSSELL SIMMONS and big-name directors such as DOUG LIMAN (director of GO and SWINGERS) had to say (in this book they all share "the best advice they were ever given about the movie business/ the best advice they would give to someone starting out). "Development Girl" deserves an A+.
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Summary: GREAT YOUNG PERSPECTIVE ON THE BIZ
Review: This is the first and only book I've ever read on the entertainment business by someone young for someone young. This book is so cool because it is told from the perspective of someone just starting out who understands what it is like trying to break in as an outsider. In fact, it seems like the point is that the author isn't some big deal executive or producer (and isn't pretending to be), but instead she's someone just like "you and me." Ms. Davis obviously graduated from school not so long ago and was herself struggling to break in not so long ago and was an assistant not so long ago, etc. As a result, she is sympathetic and the book is current and real and to the point. This book is also inspirational because it is the story of someone who went after what she wanted and got it -- and is like, "so can you!"
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Summary: YOU'LL LEARN AND YOU'LL LAUGH
Review: Are the below few readers 1) Jealous? 2) Self-serious? 3) Humorless? or 4) All of the above? Some of us in the film industry ( I am a studio executive) realize that we are not curing cancer -- we are just telling stories. This story is one that will make you learn and will make you laugh. Guaranteed.
Rating: 
Summary: Shame on Doubleday
Review: You be the judge: A selection of quotes taken from "Development Girl"-"I believe that professional blow jobs are the best kind." "It is important to have a personal accent that defines you... baby barrettes, baby T's... don't leave home with it." On her average day: "Power jam with Jimmy K., who turns my tummy and tushy tight. I know, you're thinking, 'But aerobics isn't trendy anymore!' Hey, cut me a little slack, Madonna aside, no one got skinny doing yoga... Office kitchen. OOooo! How I want that chocolate chip muffin! Must talk myself down.... Send [intern]out for tall iced latte with skimmed half-calf, half-decaf, two Nutrasweets." On the watch you should wear: "If you don't have some fancy Rolex or Tag from graduation, buya chrome Swiss Army watch." You decide. Is this the book you want to learn to "get into the movie business?"
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Summary: Bubble-gum about popcorn
Review: Ms. Davis' guide is scary in what is values as important, but then so is L.A., so it seems. Perhaps this book is the most appropriate introductory guide a person could have, because it serves as a strong warning: Beware! This is out there, and a lot more of this is in show-biz than another-biz, so perhaps you ought to listen to Ma and Pa and look into another-biz. I found the whole thing repulsive and depressing, particularly because I am in show-biz, not owning anything by Prada. People should hand this book out at the gates of hell.
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Summary: Give me a BREAK!
Review: I'm sure that a Rolex, some Prada accessories, a personal trainer and a date were able to get Ms. Davis anywhere she wanted to go! If you want to know about development, I suggest reading a book that goes beyond Davis' superficial look at what it takes to be a "D-Girl".
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Summary: A quick look at the life of an upper east sider
Review: Reader beware. This is not so much a book about making it in the movie business as it is a quick look inside the life of a young woman with money who is having fun at a job she sees as the ultimate in glamour. It is more a book about how and where to buy accessories and designer labels, and how to live according to the guidlines of In Style Magazine. The only part of the book that I found really offered solid advice was the glossary of terms. The rest, unfortunately, is more like a very long diary entry written by a woman who's convinced she's Made It. If adapted into fiction, it could possibly read like a satire.
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Summary: A major disappointment. Too much is abt dating and shopping.
Review: If you ever wanted to know what the book THE RULES would look like if it came disguised as a book about how to get into the movies, this is it. If that is what you want, then this is the book for you. However, if you really want to know how to do the actual work of development... write script notes, do coverage, track books, etc., you won't learn it here. What you will learn a lot about is the day to day life and thoughts of the author. She takes us from her sessions with her personal trainer to her manicurist to Barney's basement. We learn about her favorite clothes and accessories (Prada belt, "cute little T shirts," Gucci sunglasses, and the Rolex she assumes most of us have gotten for graduation. The day of a D girl, as described by Davis, involves figuring out how to avoid eating a chocolate muffin so she can keep her figure, sending out her intern for a latte, and scheming ways to find a date. There's so much about guys checking her out and her checking guys out that at one point I double-checked the cover of the book, as I was sure I was reading a book from the self-help section on dating. If all the people writing rave reviews here are sincere about their praise, I can only guess that they are friends of the author, or are as deeply superficial. The book basically is an insider's look at the life of a narcissist. On one final note, as everyone who "seriously" works in the "business" knows, the correct term is Warner Bros., not Warner Brothers, as Ms Davis continuously refers to it as.
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