film was bad, but still interesting

Many people can relate to taking a job that you don't have particular interest in because it will get you ahead at a certain company or industry. People can also relate to working long hours and dealing with demanding bosses. Hopefully none of us will have to deal with them to quite the extent of Andrea in The Devil Wears Prada

It was a fun and entertaining read, but falls short of 4 or 5 stars for the following reasons.

We are told that Andrea is a bright girl - she graduated from a prestigious college and has hopes to work for the New Yorker. She is occasionally referred to as having a lot of intelligence. However, in her actions and speech throughout the book, she does not come off as having above average intelligence. She can also be sarcastic and off putting to the point of being unlikeable, which didn't make sense for Christian, the writer, to want to flirt with her.

I'm not sure how we were supposed to feel about Alex, Andrea's boyfriend. He seemed very one dimensional, and I didn't really care one way or another about the stress the job was putting on their relationship. I also didn't care too much about Lily and couldn't even tell why Andrea and Lily were even friends. This was the case with many of the characters - they were flat and were only included as plot devices. I would understand this for the various other supporting characters, but a handful were very prominent in the story, and it would have been nice if I felt some emotion towards them. As it was, I just didn't care.

So, entertaining chick lit, without much substance. Read for the over the top anecdotes about working for a crazy and unreasonable boss and enjoy it for that. Be thankful your job isn't that bad! ( )

2006 ( )

Good read. ( )

Meh. The movie is better. The main character is a little whiny. On no, I'm underappreciated, my job is hard bleh bleh bleh...whatevs. At least the movie has Stanley Tucci and nice clothes to look at. ( )

After thoroughly enjoying the movie, I decided to pick this book up over the summer. I barely managed to finish it, and only because I don't like abandoning books halfway through. Andrea was terrible! When I read, I like to be able to sympathize with the main character - if your main character is a serial killer, let us find SOME way to connect with him. I hated Andrea for the entire book. Leaving her family, her (amazing!) boyfriend, and her best friend in the dust for a terrible boss who makes outrageous demands, just so that she has a shot at a better job in the future is not okay!

The book was insanely repetitive. Chapter after chapter we see:
1) Boss makes crazy demand
2) Andrea ditches her family/friends to do it
3) Andrea fails, boss threatens to fire her
4) Repeat.

Where is the pleasure in that? ( )

Since the movie was so popular, I probably don't need to mention that this is the story of recent college graduate Andrea Sachs and her year of servitude to Runway Magazine editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly. As her time under the thumb of this self-possessed, uber-demanding witch continues, Andrea finds all the things she used to cherish - her family, boyfriend, and best friend - slipping away from her. It definitely had its funny moments, but all in all I wasn't too impressed with Andrea. She was snobbish and I was simply not convinced that she or anyone else believed her constant torment as Junior Assistant was really worth a vague possibility that Miranda could get her any job she wished at the end of it (her dream is to work at The New Yorker). I found myself repeatedly wondering why she didn't just quit already. Still, it was a decently light and fun way to pass an otherwise intolerably long commute. But the movie was better. ( )

Andy is a recent college graduate, ready to find her first real job after a year of travelling around the world. Her dream is to write for the New Yorker, but she ends up getting a job at Runway, a fashion magazine, as junior assistant to the editor, a notoriously hard woman to work for. The job is hell, but if she makes it through a year, she's practically guaranteed a job anywhere she chooses, and she's hoping that will be the New Yorker.

I have to say, I don't understand at all why anyone likes this book. Seriously.

The writing was...not horrible, but not great. Way more focused on describing clothing and dropping names than getting on with the story. The ending was pat and left threads hanging. I found the entire cast unlikable, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to. Obviously Miranda is horrible, but even Andy and her friends got on my nerves.

I guess part of the appeal was getting a glimpse of the glamorous life of the rich and famous, but it was not cool or exciting to me. It just made me disgusted. I already hated rich people to begin with and pretty much the only way for this to have been a satisfying read is if Miranda had lost her job and all her money and not had a penny to her name. ( )

This was on loan from my Mum. I’m not into ‘chick-lit’ anyway, but I’d heard it was meant to be quite funny so thought I’d give it a try (if only for a lack of anything else to read).

However, from the first chapter I disliked the main character. it starts with her having been asked to go and collect her boss’s car from the garage, which is a “stick-shift,” and having always driven an automatic, she’s struggling with it. I suppose I could ignore how American that is, if it wasn’t for the fact that she seemed to find the task of driving a car for ten minutes so stressful. And being that you have to use two hands for “stick-shift” cars, and she was struggling anyway, why then light a cigarette, when you know you won’t be able to smoke it? I personally had no sympathy at all when onoes, she’d burnt her leather trousers with it. It was her own silly fault.

And really, I felt that way throughout the book. Only sometimes did I think her boss was behaving out of line, but then, with such an incompetent assistant, who could blame her for getting exasperated? When you have employed a woman in a job (that, as she quite rightly says, a million girls would die for), it would rather annoy you when your new employee then sighed and muttered to herself whenever you asked her to do a simple enough task, like getting breakfast or getting a coffee from the Starbucks across the street. And she would always chat on her phone, taking 30mins to do a simple, five minute job – no wonder she’d then get nagging phone calls asking where she’s got to, or told to get another because it’s now too cold! I wouldn’t be happy with that either. And the amount of money she wasted on supposed ‘expenses!’ Hardly a star employee.

Once I had begun to dislike the character, it was difficult to really gain any sympathy or enjoy reading it, other than to laugh at the idiocy of her behaviour. I don’t know how she thought she’d be able to handle a high-class journalism job, full of deadlines and pressure to do well, if she can’t manage simple tasks like getting a coffee. As the book progressed, she grew more annoying, becoming obsessed with her job and answering her stupid mobile phone – to the point where her best friend is in a coma, possibly dying, and she goes to a fashion show instead. No wonder her boyfriend dumped her for it; I don’t blame him.

Overall – avoid, avoid, avoid! Apparently the film is better, but it’s not like it could have gotten a whole lot worse! I’m giving it 2/5 because it was quite a page-turner, so obviously the writer did something right to keep me gripped for that long. ( )

Wow. I rarely say the following: I didn't finish this book. I decided to rate and review it, nonetheless, after comparing novel to movie. Progressing at a painfully slow pace, this book just didn't live up to the hype. The movie, however, was an enjoyable reprieve. ( )

I expected so much more out of this book. A bit too Disney for my liking. ( )

Most recent college grads know they have to start at the bottom and work their way up. But not many picture themselves having to pick up their boss's dry cleaning, deliver those hot lattes, land them copies of the newest Harry Potter book before it hits stores and screen potential nannies for their children.

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.

She finds herself in an office that shouts Prada, Armani and Versace at every turn and where everyone basically mistrusts everyone else; you are assessed from head to toe & evaluated by the shallowest factors imaginable.

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. Miranda's behavior 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.

I'm actually not that surprised as to the personality of Miranda Priestley; I worked for a person like that. Believe me, I was still smarting from the experience in that the first time I read this book, I couldn't help but relate. Maybe that's why I didn't like it that much at the time. It reminded me of myself--of stretching yourself to your limits, just to be able to meet the demands of your job, which in the end equals servitude.

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 ending was a sappy, predictable let down. But then we are all rooting for a happy ending for somebody who was made to feel like a modern-day Cinderella, right?

Book Details:

Title The Devil Wears Prada
Author Lauren Weisberger
Reviewed By Purplycookie ( )

This book is by no means a tough read. It is entertaining and literally laugh out loud hilarious. The book is much much much better then the movie. Weisberger makes her main character the average joe who is trying to find work writing in the city. Little does she know she lands a job with the craziest fashion editor in all of new york. Her struggle at the job changes her as a person and affects every aspect of her life. The book is about the main character finding who she really is and making the right decisions, not just decisions to further her career. The book is definitely worth the read. ( )

I loved this book long before it became a hit movie. The writing style is hilarious, and the plot is so great. Weisberger took something so simple, like working for a nasty boss, and turned it into a novel that cracks you up the whole way through. I've read it more times then i can even count and it is by far my favorite book ever.

This was a fun book to read. I wouldn't read it again, but I thought it was very well done. It was very interesting with all of the high fashion and designer names, but I also loved seeing how Andrea Sachs dealt with the manipulating Miranda Priestley. Everyone has dealt with some bullying powerful character, and we have all dealt with it in different ways. Watching Andrea deal with Miranda gave me a chance to see how other people handle their problems. It also gave me an idea of the result. I wouldn't read this again, but it was certainly a good book.

I should learn. High society chick lit just isn't for me. But I'd heard so many good things about this book, I felt obliged to give it a shot. I didn't get past the first 5 pages. Not my cup of tea. ( )

A good read. An interesting take on career vs. personal life, relationships etc. Having seen the film, it was impossible not to picture Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway. ( )

This is a non-stop novel that always has some kind of event going on. The main character Andrea has just started a job at a high end fashion agency and knows absolutely nothing about how it works. The high stress environment starts to get the better of her, and she turns into a fashion monster. Great book for anyone interested in fashion.
Meghan R ( )

Wonderful book!

Better than the movie

Add This Book To Your Business Collection

It's certainly not literary fiction, but The Devil Wears Prada is a light, easy read for a stress-free vacation and a surprising addition to a professional's business library. The book tackles such issues in business as management, employee satisfaction, and the deadline-driven world of the publishing field. As readers follow Andrea Sachs through her first job and first year at a popular fashion magazine in New York, NY, they are invited to share in the ups and downs of working for a demanding boss in a position of low pay and virtually non-existent status. Along the way, Andrea realizes what it takes to be successful and what unquestionable abuse one can yield upon employees when their boss is one of the most respected and feared professionals in their field. Andrea also learns to prioritize. In coming to understand her personal work limits, she also begins to develop a healthy work/life balance, something many professionals -- men and women alike -- find themselves struggling with day after day.

Andrea represents what most people are like when they take on their first job or what many become after years of unsuccessful attempts at getting ahead the old-fashioned way. They're caught up in the myth that hard work and perseverance are what get people promoted. Yet after a few years of brown nosing, these same people begin to realize that the true road to success actually lies elsewhere, that to succeed, they must indeed be very good at their chosen profession, but to rely on it as the sole means of advancing their career would be naive.

The Devil Wears Prada should be a staple among business books. There are lessons about dealing with bosses, navigating through business culture, and more all illustrated in its pages. The lessons one might learn from reading some of today's greatest business books are found together in The Devil Wears Prada. It is a perfect learning tool for professionals who like to learn by example and through reading about other people's mistakes.

Aspiring professionals in publishing will also benefit from reading this book. Even those readers with other interests will still find the book appropriately amusing, touching, and perhaps even all too real to be just fiction. ( )

Funny, kept me going. ( )

Not particularly proud to have this on my shelf, but it was OK.

Not particularly proud to have this on my shelf, but it was OK.

From the first page where you read of the panic in the office because the bosslady is on her way in, this book captures your interest. ( )