Rating: 
Summary: Certainly Not Up to the New Yorker's Standards......
Review: I grabbed this book in an airport while in the mood for some light reading on the plane. I wasn't expecting great writing and I didn't get it. I was expecting some amusing stories about life in the fashion world. I got a few, but they were so poorly written and the narrator so annoying that it wasn't worth it. I don't know, or care to know, anything about the fashion icons mentioned in the book. However, I have worked for more than one boss from hell in my life, so I thought I'd empathize with the narrator. Instead, I was annoyed at the self righteous tone and her complete lack of understanding that there are people in the world with real problems at work -- single mothers with no benefits, men and women working in unsafe conditions, not to mention people who have been fired when they've become sick or, god forbid, gotten old. This book could have been a fun read if it had been a well-written account of a new college graduate paying her dues. Instead, the author simultaneously looks down on the fashion world while dropping every name she can. She also fails to realize that there are many bosses from hell and many of the people working for these bosses do not have the perks or prestige that come with working at Vogue. She also fails to realize just how many highly-educated people out there are struggling. I temped for almost two years after receiving a very prestigious graduate degree. During that time I met men and women with masters, Ph.D's, musicians with degrees from Julliard, etc. who were all temping -- being treated as non-human while receiving no benefits -- just to pay the rent. I almost guffawed out loud when she had the audacity to complain that her mommy and daddy had cut off her credit card -- temporarily of course. Let her try a few years working temp jobs, barely able to pay the rent, knowing that any condition requiring medical treatment could mean bankruptcy. Let her talk to a few single parents before she complains about having to wear Prada (for which she did not pay) to work every day. This book could have been funny if written in an appropriate tone. It's poorly written and downright offensive.
Rating:
Summary: NOT HILARIOUS
Review: Worst book ever. This author tries to make the main character seem witty, funny and charming, but none of those goals is accomplished. The humour is too over the top and just does not cut it. The main character is completely unlovable, much like Carrie Bradshaw in 'Sex and the City'. This book was on a New York Times Best Sellers list? please.
Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't put it down...
Review: ...but maybe that's because I have no idea what goes on in that uppity fashion world and just a little insight was very interesting to me. I thought that the characters were much more developed than those in many other fluff novels that I have read and I really did care what happened to each of them. I agree with the other reviewers that this book is not worth $15, but it was a great, fun read, and I can recommend it to my friends.
Rating: 
Summary: Trendy read and just as fleeting!
Review: Fashionistas around the globe have been salivating for the publication of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADAsince its first announcement. For those in love with all things Vogue et.al., who wouldn't want to read a deliciously biting roman a clef about a woman who is probably Anna Wintour and then some? Alas, that's the problem with the book, it only caters to those in the fashion know, which results in a shallow exercise of style over substance.While author Lauren Weisberger has a grasp of sustaining a narrative, but the predictable scenarios she concocts are hardly the stuff of good fiction or, sadly, biting satire. Bitchy asides and brand names are stretched thin, for sure. Even worse, her alter ego, Andrea, is too bland a creation for the reader to really care about. Her ambition is not telegraphed with any real force since all I kept thinking was why stick it out in a thankless job that is beyond demeaning? Is being a writer at the New Yorker that important? I'm sure it is for the character, but Ms. Weisberger's colorless prose fails to register such details with depth. As for the infamous character of Miranda Priestly, I know plenty of folks like this woman. Hell, I even worked for one. The only real joy generated by this novel was smiling over what a complete and total virago she remains throughout the book. I also loved how Weisberger captured the absolute absurdity of such fields like fashion and other show business enterprises that rely so heavily on image. The worlds she creates are definitely based on some sort of fact, but it is unfortunate the she didn't take such an interest in her overall plot or characters. Perhaps my dissatisfication in the novel stems from something greater. As "chick lit" continues to fill our minds and best seller charts, does the world need one more "Mary Tyler Moore-clone taking on the world on her terms kind of heroine?"
British sensation Helen Fielding offered some reality and humanity to the hip and happening world of Bridget Jones. However, Andrea Sachs is no Bridget Jones and the short-lasting effects of this novel makes you wonder why can't us Yankees create such a vivid piece of fiction! Ultimately, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA is Diet coke for the brain. To be honest, I am tiring of our current fascination with excess, entitlement and shallowness. This hotly hyped novel implodes before its predictable "up yours" finale. Like the fashion magazines it lampoons -- it's all about really pretty pictures with ultimately very little to say.
Rating:
Summary: A bit sloppy, but still fun.
Review: It's pretty obvious that this was Lauren Weisberger's first attempt at a novel, because the book isn't very well-written and just doesn't "flow" very well at all. That being said, however, I found "The Devil Wears Prada" to be incredibly entertaining. It's definitely a "fluff" book lacking any sort of brilliant literary genius and is solely meant to provide the reader with some light, amusing reading. It's easy to relate to Andrea as she deals with the trials and tribulations of working for the most powerful and sadistic woman in the fashion industry. The descriptions of Andrea's boss are hysterical, and Miranda's behavior will have you rolling your eyes, cursing out loud, and rolling into fits of laughter. The best parts of the book are the sections devoted to chronicling Andrea's professional nightmares at "Runway" magazine, which thankfully account for most of the story. There are several supporting characters that just seem to be thrown into the book at random intervals (Andy's boyfriend, her alcoholic best friend, that guy Christian that she's always flirting with...what is the POINT of that relationship?! It never goes ANYWHERE and just sort of hangs there!), and the plot screeches to a halt and really drags whenever these supporting players show up. It seems like the author throws them in there simply so they're around to wrap up the ending of the book, which is very anticlimactic, rushed, and pretty disappointing. I had an idea of how I'd have liked the story to end, and Weisberger only met my expectations halfway. For a first-time effort, this was a pretty good book: very entertaining and definitely worth reading if you're looking for something to keep you mindlessly entertained. I think it would have been much better if the supporting characters were a bit more developed (or cut out entirely: you could easily have shaved 150 off the book that way) and if the plot wasn't quite so jumpy. Still, I'm glad I read it. Miranda Priestly is a great character...I hope someone makes this book into a movie someday. It would be hysterical!
Rating:
Summary: Trendy. Sassy. Gossipy.
Review: Written in a deliciously racy style that is supremely witty and tongue-in-cheek "The Devil Wears Prada" is trendy, sassy and gossipy. Through her refreshingly breathless and feisty narration, Weisberger provides the ultimate behind-the-scenes-look at the world of fashion journalism.
The amazing action-packed and ordeal-filled odyssey begins when 23-year-old Andrea Sachs, a small-town girl, fresh out of college, drops off her résumé at one of the most famed addresses in high-fashion publication - the stately Elias-Clarke building, Madison Avenue, New York City - without expecting even so much as a callback!
To her huge, huge surprise, she gets hired to be the assistant to the planet's most fashionable fashion editor - Miranda Priestly - in the world's most prestigious fashion magazine.
The book takes the reader up-close to the epicenter of haute-couture where the most dazzling soirees, suave gay hair colorists, $10,000 designer handbags, Prada shoes, mink furs (and the list is never ending, of course), blend into an intoxicating mélange. But it is also a reminder that all that glitters is not gold.
From the day she sets foot on the dripping-with-Versace-and-Dior sovereign soil of the Runway magazine, Andrea never has a turmoil-free, trouble-free and fear-free moment in her life. Through a narration which is at all times feisty, and which at some of the times, even has sardonic humor, she describes what it's like to work for the bitchiest boss ever.
The icy-cold, ceaselessly condescending and ruthlessly demanding Priestly treats her army of employees like slaves, with the utmost feudal attitude not seen since the days of the Greek City States. With just a steely look and a clipped, British-accent, she has metamorphosed many a full-fledged editors into mere minions, all at her beck and call. Andrea is no exception. Her highly sought-after job is in fact, a living nightmare, a travesty of a job!
What makes this book so unique is that it gives a decidedly mundane theme - employer-employee interaction at the workplace - such an exciting twist.
Rating:
Summary: Ugggh
Review: A few hundred pages of drivel. A complete hack job that reads like it was written by an opportunistic twit who had this idea on her third day at Vogue, thinks she is a far more talented writer than she actually is, and thinks that she is a far more profound individual and thinker than she happens to be..... The thinly veiled aspect is kind of embarrassing -- inserting Anna Wintour as a peripheral character in an attempt to be all "Look! It's FICTION" makes you want to sit her down and tell her "sweetheart, you've gone this far, there's no saving your tail at this point...." Skip it. The whole project casts a ghastly pallor on her moral fiber in the first place, but the Anna Wintour celebrity industrial complex needs to be stopped anyway. Not only that, but Miss LW comes off SO entirely high and mighty in her various media appearances -- as if she is doing the world a literary service by writing trash -- that it makes me want to hide the copies of this around every bookstore I go into just so people can't find it......
Rating:
Summary: I hated this book...
Review: This is a really stupid book. I bought it after thinking about what I wanted to read this summer (I always make lists of books I want to read over the summer before it begins). I decided it might be fun in get into more chick-lit(ish) type of books, because they are charectorized as being light, fun and airy, and sounded like perfect summer reads. This would be the first of its kind I would read. I would be dissapointed. I, like the many other people who read this book,was snagged by the tite and idea that we'd find out what it was like to be behind the scenes of a chic,top-selling fashion magazine. What I got was a array of complaints and an EXTREMEly annoying charector. The narrator Andrea is soppoused to be smart and sarcastically witty, but I just found her annoying. The errands her boss sends her on are not as over-the-top as the book jacket suggests. She has to get her coffe, drop off some clothes, and call a few people. Now, im not saying that I wouldint mind having to do these same things day after day, but it's really not enough to complain in a whole BOOK about. Also, this book is just plain CORNY at times. Esp. when her boy-freind Alex is involved. I must admit that I couldin't read the whole book; not only because it was so boring, but also because I litterally had an allegric reaction to the pages it was printed on, so I don't know if im fully qualified to review this book. I only got to chapter 11, but from what I read, I wouldin't reccomend this book. I WOULD reccomend "The Nannie Diaries", which is somewhat similar in the way it's about working for the rich, but is MUCH better. I just finished it tonight, and was very happy with it!
Rating:
Summary: Weisberger must have signed something over to the devil
Review: (...) Paint-by-the-numbers plot that reads like a third-rate gossip column stretched out over a couple hundred pages; a bland, boring protagonist who's a thinly disguised stand-in for the author herself; two-dimensional characterizations; and trite plot "twists" that don't surprise anyone: this novel manages to hit every trendy bar on its way down the Bad Novel Cliche Street. And most irritating of all (to me, anyway), the arbitrary dismissal of anyone from below the Mason-Dixon as an ignorant, tacky, stupid redneck with an unintelligible accent and no fashion sense (despite the fact that her insipid heroine is supposed to be an aspiring writer for "The New Yorker" and therefore above such trivial concerns as fashion). (...)
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining
Review: The title is catchy, unfortunately, the book itself failed to live up to its captivating title. The narratives tend to drag a bit, which makes the story dreary at times. The readers will also found themselves being bombarded by designer names, and will also get an extensive lesson in what to buy, what to wear, and what is the acceptable brands to buy. After reading the book, even the least fashion savvy person would know that when you want the perfect wrap dress, you should go for Diane Von Furstenberg, the sexy strappy sandles, Jimmy Choo of course, and the famous scarf, please head straight to Hermes. Although the story is not what I expected, it was nevertheless, extremely entertaining, and fun. It's great for recent college graudates, girls who can never get tired of hearing about designer labels and the fabulous world of fashion magazines, and most importantly, this book is perfect for those who believe that no matter how harsh life can be, it will always have somewhat of a perfect ending.
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