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The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin
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The Nanny Diaries

by Emma McLaughlin

Series: Nanny Series (1)

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English (72)  French (3)  Romanian (1)  Portuguese (1)  All languages (77)
Showing 1-5 of 72 (next | show all)
2007 ( )
  katiemertz | Nov 20, 2009 |
The Nanny Diaries started strong. The mean character is amusingly blunt and witty, and the beginning of the book is filled with comical commentary on the habits and thought processes of Manhattan mothers. Unfortunately, from there it goes downhill. As the book progresses, the main character loses her spunk. She loses her spunky insight and replaces it with baffled timidity. The genre transforms from humor to drama, and the authors weren't successful in stirring my sympathies. I would recommend reading the first two chapters and not bothering to finish the book. ( )
  angeliquestratt | Oct 25, 2009 |
This book just made me sad for the little boy who was ignored by his father and a pawn for his mother. And sad for the nanny who had to say good bye to him, without getting to say good bye. ( )
  auntangi | Oct 16, 2009 |
This book shadows the life of Nanny who is in charge of caring for a four year old boy, Grover. They become attached to each other that Nan decides to continue to work for the Xe's, despite her many arguments with family, friends, and herself to move on. Nan is over qualified, overworked, stressed out, and under appreciated and under paid, in fac, there were time when she did not get paid at all. The only good thing going for her is the Hottie Harvard guy who lives upstairs from the Xe's. This book has a lot of sarcasm and witt from the character, but she is a doormat for the Xe's. I found this book to be dificult to get through...I guess I did not find how the rich class of NY city live, how they regard thier children, or how nannies put up with thier employers very interesting. Usually I read through my books very quickly, but this time, it took me a long time. In fact, I think I read three books in between this one. ( )
  bitemeeric | Oct 13, 2009 |
Reviewed by Taylor Rector for TeensReadToo.com

Nanny is going to NYU to get her degree in child care, but first she must deal with the X's.

The X's are a typical rich New York family: Dad is a workaholic; Mom doesn't have a job but is too busy shopping and running her social life to raise her child; Grayer (nicknamed Grover/Grov) is the four-year-old who wants nothing more than his parents' attention.

Nanny becomes very attached to Grayer, who is absolutely adorable and really likes Nanny because she is the one raising him. Nanny and Grayer go on many adventures together and Nanny must deal with the crazy Mrs. X, who doesn't come home when she says she will, doesn't pay within a normal time frame, and is just downright mean to Nanny -- and to her own child.

This is a great story of love and affection, and also the lack of it. I really liked reading this book because Nanny has a life outside of her job, like falling in love with H.H.-Harvard Hottie. Nanny and Grayer are realistic and the parents are the crazy people in the book, which makes this a great view for teens.

I had a lot of fun reading THE NANNY DIARIES, and will recommend it to all of my friends who have ever babysat for crazy parents! ( )
  GeniusJen | Oct 12, 2009 |
Showing 1-5 of 72 (next | show all)
The authors, NYU grads themselves, have filled the novel with humorous events allegedly based on their personal experiences.
 
"The Nanny Diaries" is a sharply barbed comedy of manners; the denizens of New York's Upper East Side (and, by extension, their brethren in all other tony, overpriced, deadly dull neighborhoods in cities around the world) are its target.
added by stephmo | editSalon.com, Stephanie Zacharek (Mar 21, 2002)
 
With this hilarious, vicious satire of upper-class family life in Manhattan, McLaughlin and Kraus, ex-nannies who know of what they speak, position themselves as contempo Edith Whartons.
 
Although The Nanny Diaries is screamingly funny, it's also painfully sad. A very effective combination.
added by stephmo | editUSA Today, Dierdre Donahue (Mar 14, 2002)
 
The heart of the matter remains perfectly pitched social satire, from the children's birthday parties (''We really had to put our heads together to top last year's overnight at Gracie Mansion'') to the kind of house where African, Venetian, Art Deco, Empire and Winnie-the-Pooh styles heedlessly collide.
added by stephmo | editNew York Times, Janet Maslin (Mar 4, 2002)
 
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Epigraph
"You should hear mama on the chapter of governesses: Mary and I have had, I should think, a dozen in our day; half of the detestable, and the rest ridiculous, and all incubi - were they not, mama?"
"My dearest, don't mention governesses; the word makes me nervous. I have suffered a martyrdom from their incompentency and caprice; I thank Heaven I have now done with them!"
- Jane Eyre
Dedication
To our parents, for always reading at least one bedtime story (with voices) no matter how tuckered they were.
And to all the fabulous kids who have danced, giggled and hiccuped their way into our hearts.
We root for you still.
First words
(Prologue) Every season of my nanny career kicked off with a round of interviews so surreally similar that I'd often wonder if the mothers were slipped a secret manual at the Parents League to guide them through.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Wikipedia in English (1)

The Nanny Diaries

Book description

Amazon.com (ISBN 0312291639, Paperback)

The Nanny Diaries is an absolutely addictive peek into the utterly weird world of child rearing in the upper reaches of Manhattan's social strata. Cowritten by two former nannies, Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, the novel follows the adventures of the aptly named Nan as she negotiates the Byzantine byways of working for Mrs. X, a Park Avenue mommy. Nan's 4-year-old charge, the hilariously named Grayer (his pals include Josephina, Christabelle, Brandford, and Darwin) is a genuinely good sort. He can't help it if his mom has scheduled him for every activity known to the Upper East Side, including ice skating, French lessons, and a Mommy and Me group largely attended by nannies. What makes the book so impossible to put down is the suspense of finding out what the unbelievably inconsiderate Mrs. X will demand of Nan next. One pictures the two authors having the last hearty laugh on their former employers. --Claire Dederer

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:10 -0400)

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