Not bad, I suppose—especially interesting when compared to the film adaptation, which I'd seen first.

The movie was no great shakes, really, although the cast did a solid job with what they'd been given. Still, I sought out the book because I felt that, as with most film adaptations, a lot of depth had probably been jettisoned, and rightly so, in the translation to the screen. After all, a novel can tackle a lot more than two hours of screen time can.

Imagine my surprise to find that the movie had more depth than the novel did. One of the most charming and fully-realized characters (relatively speaking, here) in the movie was nothing more than a throwaway gay joke in the book. And whereas there's growth and change among most of the major players in the movie, the novel pays only lip service to "your characters must change by the end of the book," and then only to the protagonist, whose "change" is telegraphed from page 1. The boss, the "devil" of the title, remains exactly the same from beginning to end—possibly intentionally, but I thought the Hollywood treatment of her, though formulaic, was more satisfying.

These things would have cheesed me off more if I hadn't discovered that the whole thing was written by a 22-year-old, because lord knows I never could have written something as impressive as this at that age, so I'm willing to cut a great deal of slack. And the truth is, it is an enjoyable read on a page-to-page basis, even if the whole book isn't altogether satisfying. Empty calories.

I finished The Devil Wear Prada last night. I had some trouble getting into the book, those first descriptions of Andrea's adventures before joining the magazine were really not that interesting to me. After she enters the magazine world I became more interested in her relationship with everyone else. Meaning I'm not that into fashion so some people might actually appreciate the fashion angle in this book more than me.

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.

After Andrea starts working at the magazine she has to deal with her boss's impossible requests, rude manners and every hour calls. She feels compelled to try to answer every request because everyone tells her that after one year of putting up with Miranda Priestly she will be able to choose the job she wants.

As the action progresses Andrea is more and more into the Runway spirit, where everybody wears designers clothes, is sickly thin and lives in fear of the boss. Her relationship with Priestly's Senior Assistant Emily shows exactly that - either Emily is defending her boss and her rudeness or, when she is also a target, she is bad mouthing her in secret.

Although she becomes more of a Runway girl Andrea keeps herself focused on the real job she wants - to write for The New Yorker, and can't resist sometimes feeling superior to everyone else who works for the magazine. With that goal in mind she keeps accepting Miranda's demands thus hurting her relationship with family and friends. The climax come during a trip to Paris where Andrea is preparing to help Miranda organise a party even though her best friend is cometose in the hospital. Miranda makes one more impossible demand - to removate her daughter's passports in 3 hours - and Andrea finally tells her F*** ***.

That's the end of the job and she comes home to be with friends and family even if her relationship with her boyfriend is already damaged.

I thought this was a fun book to read after I made through those first pages because Miranda's rudeness and everyone else's reaction too it are actually really fun and make for some LOL moments.
However once you close the book there's really nothing that stands out. As an example of chick lit I think it lacks some growth of the main character, in the end Andrea only learned to dress herself better and maybe to pay better attention to her family. But she already had her own set of values and principles at the beginning of the book.
A C+.

Filmą mačiau jau seniai, bet knygą tai tik dabar perskaičiau. O kad viskas būtų buvę atvirkščiai... Filmas tai nieko gero, kvailas eilinis darbelis ir tiek, kuriame ryškiai per daug Mirandos pievų... Knyga tai daug geresnė, aišku yra minusų, bet kai labai greitai susiskaitė, tai negaliu per daug jau neigiamai kažką sakyt. Lengvas skaitalas dienai/kelioms ir viskas :)

I think this is the first time I can say I liked the movie better than the book. This is supposed to be skewering the fashion industry but the least likeable character in the whole book was the protagonist. Not only did she come off as whiny, entitled and more of a snob than the snobs she was complaining about, she was quite humorless. One would think the fashion industry would be a gold mine of comical materials but if this book was supposed to entertain the reader, it quite failed. Helen Fielding managed to make me laugh out loud at the absurdities of the celebrity world and the entertainment industry in books like Bridget Jones and Cause Celeb. But Devil Wears Prada had no witty insights. It relied on cliches like the flamboyant or promiscuous gay fashion editor and other cringe inducing moments. The rest of the time, it left me utterly bored. It was a chore to finish it. I really don't understand how this became a record breaking best-seller.

Una lettura particolare che, se da un lato fa sorridere, dall'altro offre vari spunti di riflessione.

Andrea Sachs è una studentessa modello, da poco laureata in una prestigiosa università. Viene assunta alla Runway, rivista di moda fra le più quotate in America, alle dipendenze di Miranda Preston, icona del settore moda. Quello che per lei era un sogno, però, ben presto, si trasforma in un incubo perché la celeberrima Miranda, oltre a essere un capo dispotico, a tratti sembra soffrire di bipolarismo e, quello che doveva essere il lavoro ideale si trasforma in una corsa contro il tempo per accontentare le richieste (assurde) della sua datrice di lavoro, rendendo la sua vita un inferno.

E qui arrivano gli spunti di riflessione: fino a che punto è giusto sacrificare la famiglia, gli affetti, la propria libertà per il sogno di una brillante carriera? Quali dovrebbero essere le priorità della vita?
Davvero molto carino il ritmo anche se, dato che non avevo visto il film, a fine lettura ho iniziato subito la visione e devo dire che mi è piaciuto di più del libro. Sarà stata la bravura della Hathaway o l'interpretazione magistrale di Meryl Streep nel ruolo di Miranda Preston, sarà stato il ritmo frenetico della metropoli che rende di più sullo schermo che sulla carta, l'ho apprezzato di più.
4 stelle per il libro
5 stelle per il film

Sure, the movie was not bad but can you blame me for loving the book so much more? Gotta admit though, Meril was perfect for the role of bitchy fashion magazine boss.

i was reading this book at the same time i was working in a very similar environment as andy, the main character. i laughed and cried with her because i could relate to her character so much. miranda liked her perrier placed everyday on a certain side of her desk. my old boss, mehmet, liked his evian room temperature from the bakery across the street. miranda would dump her coat and bags on andy every morning. mehmet would hold out his arms for me to put his YSL coat on and bow his head down for me to put his burberry rain hat on top before he would scurry out of his office trailing his louis vuitton luggage behind him on his way to paris. and we were both told a million girls would kill for this job!

Although an interesting comical expose of the world of fashion publishing, far too long and repetitive. A very good example of choosing a great book title :). 4 out of 12, Two Star read...

2009 read

not even gonna bother with this...
-it was repetitive
-boring
-had poor chracter development
-so slow
-and SUCH A DRAG OMDSSS

The movie was wayyy better imo

4.5 Stars for The Devil Wears Prada: Book 1
(audiobook) by Lauren Weisberger read by Bernadette Dunne.

This was fun getting to read the inspiration for a great movie. I really liked the novel but I think I like the movie a little more. It was interesting to see what changes the Hollywood writers had to make to streamline the story. I’m looking forward to listening to the next book in the series.

i FINALLY finished this book

3.5⭐️
So I’ve watched the movie more times than I can count at this point, which definitely made it hard for the book to live up to it. The movie is just too good, and while there was nothing I really disliked about the book, it wasn’t as enjoyable as the movie for me. It’s hard not to compare the two.