Just fresh out of college, Andrea Sachs or Andy, 23, thinks it’s time to get a job. She soon finds herself as junior assistant to Miranda Priestly, highly-feared Runway magazine editor and also one of the most powerful women in the world of fabulous fashion.
Since she has never read Runway or any other fashion magazine, Andy has to rapidly learn the ropes in order to survive as Miranda’s assistant. She’s also not the sort of girl to swoon over the latest Prada bag or Jimmy Choo shoes or starve herself to stay skinny.
She’s also being reminded constantly that she’s lucky to be working for Miranda Priestly, and that millions of girls would die for the job. But it’s tough attempting to carry out various tasks in a short amount of time for the ever-demanding Miranda. To stay motivated, Andy assures herself that she’d stick it out as Miranda’s slave assistant for a year and she’d be able to be a writer for The New Yorker. It seems that working for Miranda can get you places!
I’ve watched the movie
Not that the book isn’t all that chirpy and light-hearted but Andy has had to deal with serious issues. For example, her best friend Lily is an alcoholic but Andy couldn’t bring herself to talk to Lily about it. In the movie, Andy’s boyfriend, Nate is a chef while in the book, the boyfriend, Alex teaches in a school in South Bronx where the students come from troubled homes.
I kind of breezed through the 391-page book. Some parts were dragging, for instance when Andy keeps complaining about Miranda. Also, I cringed a few times just from reading about all the wasted food that Miranda never ate. Andy doesn’t know when Miranda arrives at the office in the morning and she orders her breakfast every ten minutes so that when Miranda arrives, the meal will be steaming hot. All the previously ordered and now cold, meals will be dumped into the trash. Just like that. Isn’t that wasteful???
Miranda does have a lot of responsibility in her hands and she needs to overcome the challenge of balancing work with personal life. Therefore, being her assistant is not easy! I wonder how a typical day goes by for Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue magazine.
Well, what do you think of the book? Is it really that difficult to be assistant to a fashion editor and do these editors have fussy demands?
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I recently saw the September Issue I wish I would have read this book before I watched either movie…I rather enjoyed both films I hope to read this book soon!
@Heidi V.: At first I didn’t know what you meant by The September Issue but I looked it up and found out that it’s a documentary show on Anna Wintour! Thanks for mentioning it to me.
Hope you get to read this book soon too. I think you’ll like it.
I loved the movie more than the book. Primarily because of the awesome clothes, and Meryl Streep. She did such a great job with that role.
The book was a bit of a drag.
I did catch The September Issue – a documentary about US Vogue and Anna Wintour. It’s quite enjoyable, and really shows Anna’s power and influence in the fashion industry.
I haven’t seen the movie or read the book. I tend to always prefer the book over the movies or shows tho {exceptions..true blood and vampire diaries} I think I’ll pick up this book on my next book store outting
@Nishita:
Looks like we have the same reasons for loving the movie! Really, I’d not get tired of watching it again.
It’s good to know that you find the documentary enjoyable. I don’t know why but I always associate the term ‘boring’ with the word ‘documentary’! It’s really stereotypical of me. :/
@Mystee: Ooh, you’ve got to watch the movie because the clothes in it are simply ah-mazing!
Yes, some books are way better than their movie adaptations.
I haven’t read the book or movie either. Friends who have seen the movie kept telling me how good the movie was that I wondered if I should pick up the book. From your review, I’d say this book isn’t typical of books I like. Thanks for sharing.
CEP.
@Kah Woei: Hi! I would agree with your friends that the movie’s really good and it’s worth a watch. Watching Miranda/Meryl Streep is enough. Even if you don’t read the book, you could try the movie when you have the time.
Hi just hopping by to say hello-hope all well with you and I am glad I am already one of your followers
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