Author: Lauren Weisberger
Publication Date: 2004
Page Count: 360
Genre: Chick-Lit
From amazon.com
Charmingly unfashionable Andrea Sachs, upon graduating from Brown, finds herself in this precarious position: she's an assistant to the most revered-and hated-woman in fashion, Runway editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly. The self-described "biggest fashion loser to ever hit the scene," Andy takes the job hoping to land at the New Yorker after a year. As the "lowest-paid-but-most-highly-perked assistant in the free world," she soon learns her Nine West loafers won't cut it-everyone wears Jimmy Choos or Manolos-and that the four years she spent memorizing poems and examining prose will not help her in her new role of "finding, fetching, or faxing" whatever the diabolical Miranda wants, immediately. Life is pretty grim for Andy, but Weisberger, whose stint as Anna Wintour's assistant at Vogue couldn't possibly have anything to do with the novel's inspiration, infuses the narrative with plenty of dead-on assessments of fashion's frivolity and realistic, funny portrayals of life as a peon. Andy's mishaps will undoubtedly elicit laughter from readers, and the story's even got a virtuous little moral at its heart. Weisberger has penned a comic novel that manages to rise to the upper echelons of the chick-lit genre.
My Review
I have known of this books existence for a long time, I just never picked it up to read. When I was reading it, both my mom and my sister said ... "You haven't read that book yet? That's surprising!" While reading, I too realized it was surprising that I hadn't picked this book up previous to now.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was nothing life altering (chick-lit rarely is), but it was entertaining throughout. I was only slightly frustrated with the meanness that Miranda Priestly's character showed toward her assistant, Andy Sachs (but that is the whole point of the book, and it wasn't so frustrated it made me want to put the book down.
Andy's character is likable enough, and I only recently found out that this may have been written more as an expose of sorts (similar to Nanny Diaries) as the author worked for a high-maintenance magazine editor in her past.
I will note that the movie does a really good job of capturing the book. Typically, movies do not do justice to the book they are based on, but I would say this is an exception. The book was harder to read with the comedic flare that the movie gave to it, so I think that it made it a different sort of story. In the movie, I felt sorry for Andy's characater, but chalked it up to more "slap-stick", "oh-no-not-her-again" attitude. In the book I felt much more invested into the character and felt more deeply affected by Miranda's rudeness and meanness.
I would recommend this book to anyone who was interested in a quick read. Don't go in expecting the sun, and you will be happy with the outcome!
Overall Rating: 8/10
Next Review: Little Altars Everywhere by Rebecca Wells
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