The Devil Wears Prada - Hardcover

Weisberger, Lauren

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 038550926X ISBN 13: 9780385509268

Publisher: Doubleday, 2003

Synopsis

A small-town girl fresh out of an Ivy League college, Andrea Sachs is delighted when she is hired for her dream job as assistant to Miranda Priestly, the successful, high-profile editor of Runway magazine, one of the world's premier fashion publications, until she discovers that she has been hired by the boss from hell. A first novel.

About this title

Review:

It's a killer title: The Devil Wears Prada. And it's killer material: author Lauren Weisberger did a stint as assistant to Anna Wintour, the all-powerful editor of Vogue magazine. Now she's written a book, and this is its theme: narrator Andrea Sachs goes to work for Miranda Priestly, the all-powerful editor of Runway magazine. It turns out Miranda is quite the bossyboots. That's pretty much the extent of the novel, but it's plenty. Miranda's behaviour is so insanely over-the-top that it's a gas to see what she'll do next, and to try to guess which incidents were culled from the real-life antics of the woman who's been called Anna "Nuclear" Wintour. For instance, when Miranda goes to Paris for the collections, Andrea receives a call back at the New York office (where, incidentally, she's not allowed to leave her desk to eat or go to the bathroom, lest her boss should call). Miranda bellows over the line: "I am standing in the pouring rain on the rue de Rivoli and my driver has vanished. Vanished! Find him immediately!"

This kind of thing is delicious fun to read about, though not as well written as its obvious antecedent, The Nanny Diaries. And therein lies the essential problem of the book. Andrea's goal in life is to work for The New Yorker--she's only sticking it out with Miranda for a job recommendation. But author Weisberger is such an inept, ungrammatical writer, you're positively rooting for her fictional alter ego not to get anywhere near The New Yorker. Still, Weisberger has certainly one-upped Me Times Three author Alix Witchel, whose magazine-world novel never gave us the inside dope that was the book's whole raison d'être. For the most part, The Devil Wears Prada focuses on the outrageous Miranda Priestly, and she's an irresistible spectacle. --Claire Dederer, Amazon.com

Review:

PRAISE FOR THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA:

‘This little gem mixes Sex and the City charm with dry New York wit.’ REAL

‘Sassy, insightful and sooo Sex and The City, you'll be rushing to the bookshop for your copy like it's a half price Prada sale.’ COMPANY

‘The most fun we've had in ages.’ HEAT

‘Delicious...a great insight into the world of magazines and fashion.’ RED

About this edition

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 038550926X
• ISBN 13: 9780385509268
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 360