Rating: 
Summary: IF YOU LIKED THE NANNY DIARIES YOU SHOULD ENJOY
Review: I'd probably give this 3 1/2 stars, not just 3 - If you enjoyed the NANNY DIARIES last year, you'll probably enjoy this book - there's just not a whole lot there - It could have been so much better - Way over the top, boss Miranda drives everyone crazy, especially her assistant, AANN-DREEE-AAHH - her demands are way over the top and her accusations will drive you crazy ("there's just no excuse") - I know there are those out there who say this is based on the author's own experiences as an assistant to the editor of Vogue - Let's hope it's an exaggeration - It would be very sad to believe that there are women bosses like this in our world today - and that their assistants will put up with that behavior!!! If you don't take it seriously, it's a fund read and if you enjoy fashion (like me) you will the best part will be the never-ending references to Chanel, Prada, Jimmy Choo and Minola Blanik - If employees of the magazines get all the perks described here - then I'm in the wrong field of work!!! Please, someone, point me in the right direction for a career at one of the top fashion mags!!! I would have liked to know a little more about Miranda - Why does she behave the way she does? What are her children like and how and when did she meet her current husband and just what is it about Miranda that makes "B-Dad" stick around? Perhaps an event to make her a little more human would have done it - but there's nothing in this book that will make any reader even remotely like her (and if you do, how sad!!) I'd also like to know more about Andrea - besides the promise of a great reference for a job at the New Yorker (why she thinks time spent in a FASHION magazine will impress the editors at THE NEW YORKER is still beyond me!!!) Halfway through the book, most readers will get the jest that most other NY editors despise Miranda - so why Andrea would think a referral from her to the NEW YORKER would be impressive doesn't make much sense - I've read some of the reviews where the readers felt that Andrea was almost as shallow and spoiled as Miranda but I don't think that's the case - I think she's a confused young woman who knows what she ultimately wants to do, but has no idea how to achieve it - She's anxious and eager which is why she takes this job in the first place - She believes one year of service for Miranda is worth more than 4 years of college and a degree and lesser experience will ever be!!! I mean don't forget, we are talking about a 23 year old New Yorker - The fact that she spends company money on coffee for the homeless says something - and I think her flirtation with Christian is harmless fun and exploration on her part (let's not forget, she's been with her boyfriend all through HS - she has no idea what else is out there - When was the last time, you turned down some harmless flirting???) - The ultimate catchall though is when Miranda tells Andrea that she reminds her of herself when she was that age - That's the ultimate spooker - Andrea is never the same after that line - and that's when all hell breaks loose - Overall, a fun, fast read - easy comparisons to the NANNY DIARIES can be made (Nasty mother/Nasty editor)(Naïve Nanny/Clueless Assistant) (Sinful, Cheating Father's Mistress/Faithful, Supportive Sr. Asst to Miranda)(Loving Supportive Family/Loving, Supportive Family)(Devilishly Handsome Young Neighbor/Devilishly Handsome Young Writer) -Should be a light, fun read - Not to be taken too seriously!
Rating: 
Summary: Not another one of these books.
Review: I'm so tired of this genre. Bridget Jones has ruined it for us as publishers churn out this kind of garbage just because it sells well and we continue to buy it. I can't bring myself to purchase anymore stories about women that just graduated from college and their day-to-day stories about life, love and living in the big city. This book is like a cheesy Cosmopolitan fiction excerpt only much longer. This story is not shocking, I don't find any of the tales surprising and to top it off, the writing style is horrible. The author just tries too hard to shock and its way too obvious.
Rating:
Summary: a decent book for the beach
Review: this book was fine at first, i loved the ny references, being a native. it was mostly alot of fluff though, nothing substantial. the beginning was better than the end. it got progressively more stupid. yet, i enjoyed it for what it is, a fun empty headed read when you're not in the mood for anything more solid.
Rating:
Summary: good beach read, but don't expect anything spectacular
Review: This book is great for a semi-trashy summer read. However, don't expect anything more profound than some whining and attempted sympathy grabbing.This book is about "Andrea", the assistant to "Miranda Priestly" the editor in chief of "Runway" magazine. It is a well known fact that the author (Lauren) was the assistant to Anna Wintour, the editor in chief of Vogue. While the author claims that the book is a work of pure fiction, it is not a hard stretch of the imagination to figure out that by "fiction" she must been first hand reporting. The most interesting thing about this book is that it gives someone NOT in fashion a glimpse into this insane world of size 00s, free designer clothes and over the top expense accounts. It describes, in detail, the insane whims of "Miranda Priestly", such as having a private jet fly a copy of the new Harry Potter book to Paris just so her daughters could have it ONE day before all of their friends. That is the most interesting thing. The subplot of "Andrea"'s personal relationships and her ambition of writing for the New Yorker really seems almost trivial in the novel since the subplot is not very well developed. Her friend (singular) and boyfriend both get increasingly discouraged with her because she works 12 hours days and does not have an inordinate amount of time to be with them. Her best friend develops a major addiction and her boyfriend (who is a teacher) basically turns into a colossal whiner who has no regard for her career. Throw into the mix her flirtation with a "famous young writer" and the subplot attempts to overwhelm the actual main storyline. This book, while entertaining, should have stuck to its main purpose: to discuss her career in fashion and her crazy boss, not to try to push her personal life into the foreground. The whole POINT of the book was that as a result of her job, she had no personal life, hence the plot development problems. I just feel that for someone who went to an Ivy League school and aspires to write for the New Yorker, this novel could have been written much better.
Rating: 
Summary: A fun weekend read
Review: I loved this book. I also read the Nanny Diaries and although there are similarities to plot line, I was hoping it would not end the same. You will have to read it to see. This is a fun "escape" book especially for someone living in a rural area hppily raising two kids. Does that stuff really happen? Take the book to the beach, or playground with one eye on the kids, you won't regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: The Writer Needs Writing Lessons
Review: THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA is the story of one Andrea Sachs, an annoyingly passive-aggressive Ivy League princess who we are told is so out of touch with fashion that she can't pronouce Givenchy and who thinks that Target carries a brand called Massimo (it's Mossimo) - but yet who knows what designer John Galliano looks like. Andrea, straight out of Brown, wants to be a serious writer for The New Yorker, so she of course follows her dream by becoming a personal assistant to the editor-in-chief at Vogue-clone Runway - as opposed to, oh, say, actually pursuing WRITING. This is our first clue that Andrea is seriously out of touch with reality, and it only gets worse. We are informed (it is painfully apparent that author Lauren Weisberger never heard of the writing maxim "show, don't tell") that Andrea is quite possibly the Mother Theresa of Manhattan. Caring Andrea buys expensive Starbucks drinks for the homeless and actually - gasp!- learns the names of the drivers who ferry her around on her magazine's account. Virtuous Andrea turns down the advances of current "It Boy" hotshot writer, even though he has connections at her dream job, The New Yorker - as we are reminded every 50 pages. (We are told Andrea spurns him because "It Boy" is a lech, even though his behavior on paper is perfectly gentlemanly. Perhaps the confusion stems from Weisberger's wooden dialogue, which is overwritten and unbelievable to the ear, with no distinction in voice between the characters.) High-minded Andrea, who has actually read a Russian novelist and taken psych classes, looks down her nose at her shallow fashion-crazed colleagues, although that doesn't stop her from taking home from the office thousands of dollars' worth of Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Chanel, Oscar de la Renta, and matching Louis Vuitton luggage. However, even would-be saints have their dark sides, and Andrea's comes out in quite possibly the nastiest, grossest and passive-aggressive ways ever: she wipes her dirty hands on her boss's dry-cleaning and serves her boss lunch on dirty dishes, while dreaming of spitting into the food. There is nothing likeable or sympathetic about Andrea, and her whiny diatribes about her miserable working life wear on the reader after page 100. When her boyfriend, the male Mother Theresa, finally tells her off, the reader cheers even it does come 260 pages too late. THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA has gained attention because it is supposedly a roman-a-clef about life as an assistant to Vogue editor Anna Wintour. However, the Anna figure here is such a caricature, any deeper understanding or insight into the real person is impossible. And we can't figure out why Andrea puts up with her in the first place. Yes, yes, we are told Andrea's reasons (think I'm mentioning The New Yorker too much? Then you haven't read the book) but the reader can't suspend disbelief. Besides, as someone who led an earlier life as a Hollywood assistant - Andrea had it fairly easy. Like her character, who we are told managed to score $38,000 after selling all the stuff she "took" from the office, I hope Lauren Weisberger is capitalizing on the success of this novel. Because without the "Wintour is the devil" hype to sell her novel, her writing is vastly subpar. And the editor did her no favors - she let errors such as confusing "salon" with "saloon," and several confusing time shifts, stand. In the acknowledgements, Weisberger says to blame the editor for taking out all the really funny parts - one wishes that some of that had been allowed to stay, for the novel could definitely use a lighter touch. Too serious to be a satire, and too over-the-top to be a real life look at a fashion magazine, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA is instead what no book should be: boring.
Rating:
Summary: Not impressed
Review: I picked up The Devil Wears Prada with a great deal of anticipation. Unfortunately, I was not impressed with the content of this novel. First of all, I found various inconsistencies in Weisberger's writing. The course of the story took some abrupt turns from one chapter to the next. Also, despite the fact that the author developed a rather believable character in Miranda, the development of secondary characters was missing. I had difficulty remembering who was who most of the time. I give the The Devil Wears Prada three stars because, structural errors aside, Weisberger grasped the protagonist's frustrations as she endured menial labor with unflinching accuracy. Having once worked as a personal assistant for a faux celebrity not unlike Miranda Priestly, I know the aforementioned frustrations quite well. All and all, The Devil Wears Prada is a mediocre read. I wouldn't discourage others from reading it, but I hope to have offered some insight on what to expect from this book...
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining!
Review: THE DEVI WEARS PRADA, by Lauren Weisberger, is an entertaining story. The characters are fun, the dialogue moves along nicely, and the plot interesting enough. I think most readers will appreciate this one as much as I did. John Savoy
Savoy International
Motion Pictures INC.
Beverly Hills, California
Rating:
Summary: Well I, for one, really liked it
Review: Ok, folks, lighten up! Lauren Weisberger never claimed to be Tolstoy. This book delivers on just what it is: a light, fun, dishy story about the mostly unknown inner workings of the fashion world. I thought it was a great read. And for those of you complaining about spending money on a book you didn't like - have you ever heard of the library?? Grow up, people.
Nice job, Lauren. Look forward to more.
Rating:
Summary: It's good, easy reading....but I liked the devil.
Review: Well...the book was a good way to waste a few alone-time hours but I'm not crazy about it. It was...ok. But I have to admit, I kind of liked the devil, because Andrea's (main character) continuous uh, um, uh stuttering and wimpiness made me want to scream at her too. But a fun read.
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