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.
Rating: 
Summary: Starts out great
Review: At first, The Devil Wear Prada might remind you of The Nanny Diaries and The Shopaholic Takes Manhattan. It has that fast, fun, delightfully wicked vibe that many books have when they're set in the shopping Mecca of New York City. The scenarios are funny and entertaining and have the ability to capture your attention. But about mid-way, for whatever reason, Andrea's narration starts to sound repetitive, like the plot doesn't really know where to go, so it starts running around in circles. But because you're curious and pulled in, you keep reading just to see what happens. But admittedly, the level of intensity declines and you may grow a little frustrated. Yet, there are so many beginnings chapters that are eye-opening in terms of the fashion industry, that the book is worth taking a look. I am curious to see what other readers have to say about The Devil Wears Prada.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad
Review: There is an enormous amount of buzz about this book because the author used to work at Vouge. Most of the PR implies that this is a roman a clef about those days. So far the reviews that I've seen in a least two major fashion magazines haven't been kind but that can be chalked up to fashionistas being annoyed with someone who mocked their world. Does the book live up to the hype? Yes and no. It's an amusing book. The descriptions of downtown life in NYC, the side characters and the horrible antics of mean Miranda Priestly are fun but the heroine, Andrea is such a stuck up little snob that it's difficult to care about her. Margaret Mitchell was able to take a character who was an absolute monster and make millions love her. Lauren Weisberger doesn't have that kind of ability.
What's really annoying is that the book has a choppy feel. Andrea lurches from one disaster to another with no transition in between. The plot has a formula that is an old as Greek mythology. The scenes with the best friend character, Lilly and the boyfriend, Alex won't surprise anyone. The climax is straight out of an old Edgar Wallace plotwheel. The ending was a sappy, predictable let down.
The bottom line is this: if you love fashion and gossip The Devil Wears Prada will make you smile. If you want a terrific book, this won't be the one you're looking for.
Rating:
Summary: I could not put it down!!!!
Review: The Devil Wears Prada, by Lauren Weisberger is a delightful, dishy, and simply adorable novel. I could not put it down, and seriously read the book in one sitting. I 100% recommend this novel, because its a wonderfully fun book, garunteed to leave you wanting more!!
Rating: 
Summary: A fun romp that's headed for the bestseller lists.
Review: Andrea Sachs is a small-town girl given the job of a lifetime... Runway is the hottest fashion magazine, and Miranda Priestly is the super successful editor that made Runway what it is today...she IS Runway. Hired as Miranda's assistant, Andrea thinks she will be living the high life. Attending the hottest parties. Hitting the hottest fashion shows. Traveling the world. Meeting the super wealthy and famous, Andrea believes this to be the opportunity of her life. Until the reality sets in and Andrea realizes the person Miranda really is. Having to put up with her ridiculous demands, her overbearing attitude, and being down-right mean, Andrea keeps her mouth shut in hopes of getting a recommendation from Miranda to a top magazine of her choice. This fantasy is quickly crushed when Amanda realizes Miranda is a piranha set out to belittle those around her. The job that many girls would kill for, turns out to be the job that is killing Andrea, and if she is to make it out alive she must decide if success is worth the price of her soul. 'The Devil Wears Prada' is a very funny novel that will appeal to anyone (man or women) who has had an impossible boss, or to anyone fascinated by glitz, glam, fashion, and the desire to run in the elite social circles. Prada, Gucci, Armani, and Versace are only the backdrop in this smart, funny, dishy novel about getting ahead. Lauren Weisberger, a former staffer for Vogue, has written an impressive first novel, one that combines an insiders knowledge of the rich and famous, with razor-sharp wit to lay bare the dirty business of the beautiful people. 'The Devil Wears Prada' is a fun read that should be this summer's big beach-book bestseller. Nick Gonnella
Rating:
Summary: Snarky Fun That Wears Thin
Review: This book started out as snarky fun. I enjoyed imagining I was reading an insider's scoop. The boss, Miranda Priestly, was over-the-top hell-on-heels. After a while, though, she was one-dimensional, as was the narrator and main character, Andrea Sachs. I think the author did herself a disservice by writing in first-person - it might have given her a little distance to write in third person and at least pretend these characters were made up. As it was, it seemed like reading a journal where someone had done a search-and-replace, changing real names into fictional ones. In the end, I actually felt some sympathy for Miranda when she said she had noted Andrea's frequent eye-rolling and sighs. I also found it kind of silly that while Andrea claimed to want to be a writer for the New Yorker, she didn't write very well. And while she seemed to regard herself as an intellectual, here she was, living in New York City, and the only time she went to the Met is when she was forced to attend a function held there.
Rating:
Summary: A little boring
Review: This book was a little too long and very repetitive. Even though the story is interesting, it felt like the book would never end.
Rating: 
Summary: So excruciatingly DULL
Review: Wow. This was an unbelievably dull book, which is something of a mortal sin for a gossipy tell-all. The "excesses" perpetrated by "Miranda" are, frankly, not all that shocking. Not for that circle. Nor is she sui generis in being a poor boss and an unpleasant waste of skin as a person. But I've read wickedly hilarious accounts of far more pedestrian events, persons and narratives...it's not so much the topic at hand in TDWP that induces dreariness but the execrable writing. The book should NEVER have been published. It might have been a great Rolling Stone or Harper's article, with more aggressive editing and tighter focus. Perhaps, as Weisberger writes in her dedication, we should blame the editor for taking out all the really funny stuff. Ultimately, though, it's the author's fault for sucking so damned hard.
Rating:
Summary: Like reading about domestic servants in the 19th century.
Review:
Reading about heroine Andrea Sachs year working as the most junior assistant to the highest woman in fashion kept reminding me of something. I couldn't fathom what it was till I got about halfway through and then it struck me: domestic servants. As a keen fan of social history, I've read a lot about the kind of lives many women were forced to lead in the 19th and early parts of the 20th century. The hours were as continuous as the demands ridiculous. And, like Andrea in Prada, you couldn't leave because you relied upon your boss not only for your pitiful living but for a good reference. Without it, you couldn't get work elsewhere. Being dismissed without references meant, quite literally, the poor house for domestic servants. They put up with it because they had no choice.
Andrea Sachs DOES have a choice but somehow she gets herself into the kind of bind where she believes she does not. She wants to be a magazine writer and believes her year in servitude to one of the most monstrous magazine editors in the business, Miranda Priestly, will get her there. So whatever hoops Priestly demands she jumps through, Andrea doesn't just jump but asks, `How high?'
Naturally you long for Andrea to tell Priestly just where she can shove the tall latte with two raw sugars that she demands throughout the day. You know it's going to happen. Eventually. What you don't know is how, why and where. It's this longing for a satisfactory denouement that keeps you reading. And here, Weisberger's doesn't disappoint.
I bought this book because I'm planning a trip to New York and I thought it would be much more fun to bone up on the city with a work of fiction rather than a travel book. But though I learned a lot about uptown, downtown, midtown, east and west; I also had a fabulous time reading this book.
Weisberger has been criticised for writing little more than a, `Bash the boss' book but you know, so what? Bosses like Priestly - and there are far too many of them - need to be bashed like this all day every day. The domestic servants this tale reminded me of knew a great deal more about their masters and mistresses living upstairs than they who were served ever knew about those who served them. Which is why, in the end, it is those who are served who are the most humiliated by it; not the servers. When you pass your soiled knickers, no matter how expensive they are, to someone else to clean, you've lost all claims to dignity.
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