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The Nanny Diaries: A Novel

The Nanny Diaries: A Novel

List Price: $13.95
Your Price: $10.46
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It's True!!!
Review: I am a full-time nanny. This book is more true than not. Nannies feel like we finally have a voice and it does happen to others. Mothers are appalled and cannot believe this is true. I have had several conversations with moms and they swear they, and their friends, do not treat their nannies like this. Unfortunately, I'm sure they do. I have had unbelievable things happen to me on the job and so have my nanny friends. I'm hoping that parents read this book and hopefully walk away contemplating how they treat their nannies.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Watching Grayer X
Review: To demonstrate satire in the novel The Nanny Diaries, the authors Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus invite their audience into the lives of the X's and Nan. While the X's assume they are employing Nan to watch over their child, she, in reality, becomes more of a mother figure to four-year old Grayer X.
What keeps the reader enticed is the authors' humorous portrayal of Mr. and Mrs. X's relatioship with their son and his future. For instance, Grayer's rarely present father buys him a sweatshirt to a renowned pre-school, "Collegiate Academy," expecting his future admittance. When Grayer is rejected from Collegiate, his disappointed parents take the sweatshirt away from him and then proceed to hire a psychologist to relay the news to their four-year old son. Nan is stunned as well as amused by this drastic behavior shown by the X's. Another satirical example of Nan's experiences while employed as a nanny for Grayer, surfaces during the holiday season. Nan, expecting to recieve a raise or at least a plane ticket as a bonus for her overtime services during this busy season, is shocked when all she receives is a pair of designer earmuffs! She is offended by this simple gift as a payment for caring for the X's 'most prized possession,' their son Grayer.
Certainly, the authors of The Nanny Diaries successfully captured and held the audience's attention. Their use of satire as a means of portraying this upscale New York family entertained the reader without becoming overly judgmental of the X's lifestyle.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Boy, am I glad I waited for the paperback edition?
Review: I picked up this novel many times at the bookstore and put it down when it was first released in hardcover but once I saw it in paperback I said why not? Why not? Indeed.

This novel was reviewed as being "hilarious" and based on the numerous 5 star reviews listed at this site praising the storyline and the authors, I figured I couldn't go wrong.

All I can is "you've got to be kidding". Child abuse in Upper Class America is not funny and neither was anything else written about the spineless main character "Nanny" who happened to be the biggest wimp I've ever read about to date. Her parents certainly wasted their money on her education as she came away with absolutely NOTHING and I mean NOTHING.

I wouldn't even consider loaning this novel to someone to read, so after I finished it, I promptly threw it in the trashcan, which for me, is a major no no. How the Nanny Diaries ever made "bestseller" boggles my mind, my head is still spinning.

I wished I had put IT down when I had the chance.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Absolutley moving
Review: This book was absolutley awesome. I managed to read one hundered pages of it in about an hour and a half, I simply could not put it down. The "Nanny Diaries" really exploits wealthy families and shows what most people believe is happening, actually is. I hope that someone can help me find a book as fabulous as this one. I hope that we see a sequel soon because I am absolutley on the edge of my chair, not knowing what happens with H.H. and Grover. Anyone would love this book, I recommend it to ALL readers of teens and up. It has almost knocked Catcher and the Rye off my top favorite book.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Well written distraction...
Review: After looking over the other reviews, I notice a lot of emotion, and that is part of what the story intends to bring out. It is not "funny" as is stated by the press reviews of the book, but some of the situations are too close to reality not to be found laughable. The realness of the characters is somewhat lacking, they feel like their anonymous names, somewhat two dimensional and merely accessories to Nanny's life. The book was, to me, a good story in that I cared for Grayer's character (as a father), and found myself rooting for Nanny, in some instances. Nanny really struck me as a character fascinated with tearing down the actions of people she longs to be. She liberally denigrates the Xes attempts to be parents in any way, and yet she covets nearly every part of their life outside of their child. She doesn't pine for a Grayer of her own, instead she pines for Hermes bags and Prada shoes. The saddest part of the book is that what Nanny most wants to be is that which she claims to most despise. She can see everyone's faults clearly but her own, perhaps that makes this a better book, perhaps not.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Please don't waste your time
Review: The book had a relatively pointless story line, but at least it made up for it with a horrible ending. But hey - if pointless drivel is your thing - enjoy!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Misleading
Review: Yes, its a very good book. However, I am furious about the billing it received as being "funny". Sure, there are funny situations Nanny finds herself in, but the book is about a four year old boy whose parents won't even hug or acknowledge. And just as he gets really close to his Nanny-of-the-year, she is let go and replaced. Yes, its a book many people should read, but not if they are expecting it to be funny or to have a happy ending.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Maybe that's what it's supposed to do...
Review: I just finished reading this book and I was extremely impressed with it. Other reviewers seem to be commenting on how depressing and awful the plot of the book seemed to be. And i agree, I felt equally as sorry for Grayer and equally as furious at Mrs. X. But that was what made the story so great, in my opinion. You see, to me, books are meant to take you to another world, to show you a situation you may not be able to experience yourself, without having to spend hundreds of dollars on a ticket to another country, or applying for a job as a nanny. That may sound cliche', but it's the truth. A good book to me is one in which you can actually feel the emotions of the characters and spend your free time thinking back on what an awesome book you just read. So yes, it did cause some extreme emotions, but that's what made this book awesome.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: very well written, but disturbing
Review: I enjoyed this book. The people became real to me. However, being a mom of three children, one a little boy who loves to play with trains with his daddy; it really tore me up inside. I don't know if I would be able to suggest to someone else simply for the fact of how awful to have children for this reason.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Funny but Heartbreaking
Review: Absolutely great book...I have mostly given up fiction because there's so much great non-fiction out there, but this book isn't really fiction I don't think. I'm sure there have been many generations of little Grayers raised like him. Maybe this explains many adults out there? As a mother of 2 it broke my heart for the little boy. As a former middle-class college student, it made me profoundly grateful that I was able to waitress in college, not be a nanny.


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