I realized recently that I enjoy stories involving crazy people: crazy entitled people, crazy religious people, people with absolutely zero concept of a world outside of their own needs, people who believe that the world must bend to their whim, bar the consequences for anyone in their orbit. It’s so fascinating how far these people will go to get their way, how absolutely nuts they drive those who know them, and what sick pleasure they may get from hurting people in their relentless quest for self-gratification.
Who knows where that itch came from, but Miranda Priestly, the titular Prada-wearing devil, scratched it.
Andrea Sachs, freshly graduated from Brown University, is ready to become a professional New Yorker writer. But first, she must pay her dues being second assistant to Miranda Priestly, the unbelievably famous editor of the fashion magazine Runway. Andrea is drawn into an obsessive and uptight world where fashion icons are as good as gods and nothing matters except pleasing Miranda and her crazy, sometimes impossible demands. But Andrea tries to stick it out, since spending a successful year at Runway will get her right in the New Yorker door. She just didn’t expect Miranda to be such a, well, devil…
There are two big criticisms for this book among readers, one being that the writing is elementary. Well, in some parts, maybe. But as long as the overall manuscript tells a compelling story, which it is, and I want to keep reading, which I did, I cannot dock the book many points. I will admit to skipping some parts where Runway culture is described in excruciating detail, with litanies of clothing items and fashion icons going on for far longer than necessary. The absurd itineraries for Runway parties and daily schedules are laid out from time to time too, and while they lay in succinct Miranda Priestly fashion just how crazy her demands are, it’s very easy to skip.
The other criticism is that this book draws a very obvious parallel between the fictional Miranda Priestly and the very real Vogue editor Anna Wintour (Lauren Weisberger apparently worked as Ms. Wintour’s assistant, and this book is reportedly a fictional version of her experience at Vogue). But seeing as I know nothing about Anna Wintour, or really anything in high fashion, Miranda Priestly lives as her own character in my head. And even if this is not a perfect true-to-life account of Ms. Weisberger’s time at Vogue, it does make you wonder what sacrifices you would make to fulfill your career ambitions.
Andrea’s time at Runway sounds absolutely awful. Miranda expects either Andrea or the senior assistant Emily to man the office phone at all times, with hell to pay if someone has to leave a voicemail. Because God forbid either of these poor overworked women leave to use the bathroom or get something to eat and Miranda has to miss a phone call from anyone. Andrea is also belittled for trying to eat balanced meals, with the other workers barely eating anything or being glad not to eat at all.
And then, there are Miranda’s demands and her attitude toward Andrea. Hence the title, I suppose.
Miranda makes many near impossible demands of Andrea, such as demanding two advance copies of the latest Harry Potter book for her two daughters, finding obscure pieces of clothing with little to no description of said item, or chartering a flight at midnight on a Saturday night. Even if both Andrea and Emily do everything they absolutely can and it leads nowhere, Miranda does not accept anything less.
Most baffling are the demands that lead Andrea on several wild goose chases, only for Miranda to reveal that she knew the answer all along, or that she already had what she wanted.
Here’s one such baffling demand.
Miranda asks Andrea to find a review of an Asian fusion restaurant. Andrea suspects she means a restaurant in New York, so she calls every Asian fusion restaurant in the city asking if someone posted a review about them lately. Andrea asks Miranda for more clarification, to which Miranda replies, with unbelievable condescension, that Andrea should have looked in the Post, because Miranda told her that many times (even though she didn’t).
So, Andrea calls the New York Post, but they say they never wrote any reviews on Asian fusion restaurants. When Andrea inquires further with Miranda, Miranda once again looks down her nose and says Andrea should have looked at newspapers in Washington, because that’s obviously what she told Andrea before (even though, again, she said no such thing to her).
Finally, and desperately, Andrea calls every newspaper in Washington state, but no review comes up. At last, Miranda reveals that she meant, obviously, the Washington Post, in Washington D.C., because of course she said this to Andrea multiple times and is it so hard to find a simple restaurant review in a newspaper.
Bear in mind that all Miranda told Andrea was to find a review of an Asian fusion restaurant. No details of which restaurant, in which state, in which paper. Andrea went on a stressful, never-ending hunt for this one piece, got humiliated every time she asked for help, ending with Miranda knowing exactly where to find it and already having it in her grasp.
As if the whole review hunt was a mind game Miranda was playing to humiliate and degrade Andrea in front of her peers.
This happens a few times throughout the book, and it is stomach-churning to watch Andrea try her best to meet Miranda’s completely unreasonable demands. By some superhuman store of patience and problem-solving skills, Andrea manages to get things done, but I’m just left wondering what the hell (no pun intended) is wrong with Miranda.
It’s also kind of scary what kind of power Miranda has over the entire fashion industry. Although she is clearly a deranged and sadistic narcissist, no one dares say a bad word about her. All Andrea has to do is say she is Miranda Priestly’s junior assistant, and suddenly people will fall over themselves to get Andrea what she needs. Whether because they actually love Miranda or fear how she would wreck their reputation if they screw up, it’s never clear, but goodness.
I am kind of split on Andrea, though. Capable as she is at weathering Hurricane Miranda, she makes some very questionable choices that I wish had come back to bite her.
As Miranda Priestly’s junior assistant, Andrea goes to several big events where she meets A-list guests. One of these guests is Christian Collinsworth, an up-and-coming writer that Andrea admires. Christian, though apparently a strong talent, is also a creep and a playboy. And Andrea is too dazzled by his dashing good looks and that he is a hot writing talent to turn away his advances.
Of course, this would not be so bad if Andrea did not have a pretty kickass, supportive boyfriend already.
That’s right. Andrea’s boyfriend Alex goes above and beyond to support her during her Runway tenure, and Andrea very clearly loves him. And for her to flirt with Christian and let him touch and kiss her several times docks her many points, especially since he also blatantly disrespects her relationship many times.
And I find it kind of aggravating that Alex never finds out. Andrea gets a good comeuppance for her mistakes, but it might have been a delicious cherry on top if she got punished for cheating on a good guy like Alex.
Maybe that makes me sound like an ultra-moral stick in the mud, but cheating of any kind is one thing I cannot forgive anyone for, fictional or otherwise.
Now if you’re thinking of reading this book because you liked the movie, you might be disappointed. The two have some similarities, but it’s a loose adaptation at best (compare Stanley Tucci’s Nigel with Nigel in the book and they might as well have come from different sources).
The Devil Wears Prada can be frustrating at times, since Andrea makes some stupid character choices here and there and Miranda is a class-A, capital-B Bitch, but it’s still a compelling story about the sacrifices we sometimes make on the way up the career ladder, what a slippery thing that career ladder is. Throw out your thoughts on the movie if you’re going to read it, but you might still enjoy it nonetheless.
The Library Key 