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The Devil Wears Prada | 
 enlarge | Author: Lauren Weisberger
Publisher: Anchor
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  1028 reviews
Sales Rank: 18566
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0307275558
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780307275554
ASIN: 0307275558
Publication Date: May 30, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Some wear on book from reading, some spine creases, wear on binding and pages, we guarantee all purchases and ship all items via USPS mail.
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Amazon.com 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. Turns out Miranda is quite the bossyboots. That's pretty much the extent of the novel, but it's plenty. 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. 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 Alex Witchel, whose magazine-world novel never gave us the inside dope that was the book's whole raison d' etre. For the most part, The Devil Wears Prada focuses on the outrageous Miranda Priestly, and she's an irresistible spectacle. --Claire Dederer
Product Description
A delightfully dishy novel about the all-time most impossible boss in the history of impossible bosses.
Andrea Sachs, a small-town girl fresh out of college, lands the job “a million girls would die for.” Hired as the assistant to Miranda Priestly, the high-profile, fabulously successful editor of Runway magazine, Andrea finds herself in an office that shouts Prada! Armani! Versace! at every turn, a world populated by impossibly thin, heart-wrenchingly stylish women and beautiful men clad in fine-ribbed turtlenecks and tight leather pants that show off their lifelong dedication to the gym. With breathtaking ease, Miranda can turn each and every one of these hip sophisticates into a scared, whimpering child.
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA gives a rich and hilarious new meaning to complaints about “The Boss from Hell.” Narrated in Andrea’s smart, refreshingly disarming voice, it traces a deep, dark, devilish view of life at the top only hinted at in gossip columns and over Cosmopolitans at the trendiest cocktail parties. From sending the latest, not-yet-in-stores Harry Potter to Miranda’s children in Paris by private jet, to locating an unnamed antique store where Miranda had at some point admired a vintage dresser, to serving lattes to Miranda at precisely the piping hot temperature she prefers, Andrea is sorely tested each and every day—and often late into the night with orders barked over the phone. She puts up with it all by keeping her eyes on the prize: a recommendation from Miranda that will get Andrea a top job at any magazine of her choosing. As things escalate from the merely unacceptable to the downright outrageous, however, Andrea begins to realize that the job a million girls would die for may just kill her. And even if she survives, she has to decide whether or not the job is worth the price of her soul.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1023 more reviews...
Fun but not Deep December 30, 2008
This debut novel sat on the New York Times bestseller list for months, and was turned into an Academy Award-nominated film. I did the non-bookworm thing: I saw the movie first. When I finally picked up the book, I was both delighted and irritated. I was delighted that Andrea had a more complicated personal life in the book than in the movie. Her best friend and roommate, Lily, is a promiscuous, alcoholic graduate student and her boyfriend, Alex, is an idealistic elementary school teacher. She loses sight of both of them as her job gradually takes over her life. Even Emily, the senior assistant, shows signs of cracking under Miranda's pressure. There are many, many instances of Miranda's tyranny over her little empire, which guarantee that you'll be simultaneously laughing and wincing at poor Andrea's suffering.
If I had to choose one thing that bothered me, it would have to be the dialog. It was incredibly contrived and most of it wasn't believable. The conversations sound like they happen in someone's head, but when you put the words down on paper, it all sounds fake. Real people just don't talk like this. I would try to imagine these people saying these things, and it didn't work at all. It really takes away from the story, and it shows how untrained the author actually is. Much of it sounds like it came out of a high school creative writing class. At the same time, though, Miranda's outrageous rants and requests ("Yes, there's something wrong. Something very, very wrong. Why do I have to come back to my office to find this sitting on my desk?") are perfect, which hints at some real-life experience of the author's.
If you're a fan of chick-lit, this book is great. It's full of fashion and fabulousness, parties and Paris. Just don't expect too much.
a decent read, but overly long and redundant December 29, 2008
As someone who has lived in New York City and has worked with horrendously miserable people with power - which was the main reason I decided to read this book - I know very well how a person can get stuck in Andrea's situation. You're fresh out of college, you are desperate for a job that might advance your career, and this seemingly glamorous opportunity comes along. Quickly you learn that things aren't all that glamorous, and you know you're being mistreated, but you think there really aren't any other opportunities out there, and you just need to make it through this. Besides, you feel like you're getting invaluable experience by suffering through it because your boss knows so many people and has so many potentially useful connections.
The problem with Andrea is that she remains an unlikeable character throughout the book. Unlike those I've known in real life who have been assistants to insufferable people, I don't feel sorry for her. She tries to cheat the system by taking 10-20 minutes longer than she needs to on every errand she's sent on because she needs to smoke a cigarette or use her cell phone, and she cheats the company out of all sorts of money, but she can't even be bothered to treat her boyfriend or best friend decently during that period of time. She wastes food constantly and doesn't seem to care. After several months of working for Miranda, she still offers her stupid explanations and excuses when Miranda obviously isn't interested in hearing them. I feel like we're supposed to empathize with Andrea and cheer her actions in the end, but she is written as a lousy employee, a lousy friend, and an altogether lousy person.
Aside from that, for what this book is, it could've been at least 100 pages less. By the time I got maybe halfway through it, I was starting to skip every paragraph that clearly existed only to describe whatever fashion was involved with the given situation. Yeah, we get it - everyone at Runway wears really expensive clothing. If all I wanted were descriptions of fancy designer clothes, I wouldn't bother reading a 300+ page novel.
 Add This Book To Your Business Collection December 22, 2008
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.
 Blah Blah Clothes, Blah Blah poor me... November 26, 2008
So I saw the movie to this book first and I thought it was pretty cute and decided to get the book. Fortunately I bought it at a used book sale so only wasted .50 cents. Anyway...
First off, the story has absolutely ZERO likable characters. Andrea Sachs is greedy, selfish, unloving, lazy, petty, whiny, undeserving, and foolish. She complains constantly about a job that SHE decided to take and one she DOESN'T need! This job at Runway Magazine has absolutely nothing to do with the career she is supposedly striving toward as a jounalist. Instead of taking the time to work her way up in the industry she decides to skip a few steps by working for the devil that is Miranda Priestly for 1 year. Then she feels that she will be qualified to work for The New Yorker. Okay, how does that make any sense? Wouldn't you like to have at least some experience under your belt?
Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that Andrea Sachs in a mentally insane person. No one in their right mind would work for such an evil woman when they don't actually have to. As we live through the mindless, mundane and tedious tasks Andrea takes on we are left to wonder, why? Why would she choose to live this way?
Andrea is greedy in that she takes the job at Runway just to skip a few of the normal, worthwhile steps any other writer would need to take to get somewhere in the world of journalism.
Andrea is selfish in that she actually considers staying in Paris while her best friend is practically on her deathbed in the states.
Andrea is slutty in that she honestly thinks its okay to lead another guy on while she is supposedly in love with Alex. She then seems to blow off the break up right after it happens because she is too busy to think about it.
In the end it turns out that Andrea really never needed to take the job at Runway. She lands a job as a freelance writer. She makes thousands right off the bat and acts as though it's pocket change. So we just endured 360 pages of Andrea's agonizing life for nothing.
My advice is if you are at all intersted in the story...see the movie. At least that was cute with a few chuckles.
 Great Read November 3, 2008
I just loved this book! I thought that the writing was brilliant. Towards the end though it did get repetitive about just how bad her boss was. I wanted to say, "Okay, I get it already!" It was a bit much. But all in all, I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it.
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