The Nanny Diaries
by Emma McLaughlin, Nicola Kraus
|
|
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of The Nanny Diaries.
discuss this book
| topics | replies | last activity |
|---|---|---|
| It was decent | 1 | 02/26/2008 01:50PM |
| It was decent | 1 | 02/26/2008 01:50PM |
| It was decent | 1 | 02/26/2008 01:50PM |
groups with this book
friend reviews (0)
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
lists with this book
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 16561)
Read in September, 2007
It is one long anecdote disguised as a novel. A lot like "Devil Wears Prada," it is just a laundry list of incidents while working for the shallow, designer-clad perfectionist. It reads more like an article in Us Weekly, In Touch, and or the Mecca of all celebrity rag mag's, People.
What it is clearly the flaw in novels like "Nanny Diaries," and "Devil Wears Prada" is that the protagonist fumbles through the novel lacking any goal or purpose. Instead, these idea...more
What it is clearly the flaw in novels like "Nanny Diaries," and "Devil Wears Prada" is that the protagonist fumbles through the novel lacking any goal or purpose. Instead, these idea...more
Like this review?
yes
(7 people liked it)
2 comments
Nannie adalah seorang mahasiswi yang hendak mencari pekerjaan sebagai pengasuh anak. Di New York, banyak sekali keluarga kaya yang membutuhkan pengasuh anak, salah satunya adalah keluarga X. Nannie bertemu dengan Mrs. X secara tidak sengaja. Mrs. X pun menawari Nannie pekerjaan untuk mengasuh anaknya, Grayer. Setelah menjadi pengasuh Grayer, Nannie sadar bahwa anak ini sangat kesepian karena Mr. X yang terlalu sibuk berbisnis dan Mrs. X yang selalu bergaul dan tak peduli anaknya. Kehidupan Nanni...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Nanny is a grad student working her way toward her degree in child care. She accepts a job from Mrs. X who doesn't have time nor inclination to raise her own child. Instead that is left to Nanny - with a very specific schedule and strict rules regarding food, playtime and everything in between.
Nanny soon finds herself drawn to the lonely little boy stuck in the pressures of being groomed for exclusive private preschools and not given the time to be a kid. But taking care of one attention-sta...more
Nanny soon finds herself drawn to the lonely little boy stuck in the pressures of being groomed for exclusive private preschools and not given the time to be a kid. But taking care of one attention-sta...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
3.5/5
The story of a nanny for the “elite” in NYC. I liked this book b/c I could relate to many of the upsurd things from my experiencing baby-sitting. I also could relate to the unhappiness and excessive time/worry put into insignificant things (and loss of perspective)…..not to mention the non-existent life of a parent despite having children. This was an easy and entertaining read, simply written by a former nanny. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a ton of respect for the nanny….no...more
The story of a nanny for the “elite” in NYC. I liked this book b/c I could relate to many of the upsurd things from my experiencing baby-sitting. I also could relate to the unhappiness and excessive time/worry put into insignificant things (and loss of perspective)…..not to mention the non-existent life of a parent despite having children. This was an easy and entertaining read, simply written by a former nanny. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a ton of respect for the nanny….no...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
I read this during a series of fifteen-minute breaks at my job. In the interest of full disclosure, I have a bit of a grudge against any book packaged as chick-lit, the literary equivalent of low-cal fast food. However, I thoroughly enjoyed both The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing and Prep, and understand that genuinely good fiction is sometimes whored out with candy-colored covers so they'll sell, and I'm always happy to be taken by surprise when that's the case. Not so with this book. Now, ...more
Like this review?
yes
(3 people liked it)
add a comment
Read in November, 2007
recommended to Candy by:
No onerecommends it for: Nannies
Title: The Nanny Diaries
Author: Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
Copyright date: 2002
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
How many pages: 306 pgs
How long it took me to read: 10 days
Category: Fiction
I learned about this book from: Seeing it around Chapter's and then being released as a movie
This book was purchased at: McNeely and Robinson
This book is: for people who are thinking about becoming a Nanny
Other books by these authors: Dedication and Citizen girl
Favorite characters: Gr...more
Author: Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
Copyright date: 2002
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
How many pages: 306 pgs
How long it took me to read: 10 days
Category: Fiction
I learned about this book from: Seeing it around Chapter's and then being released as a movie
This book was purchased at: McNeely and Robinson
This book is: for people who are thinking about becoming a Nanny
Other books by these authors: Dedication and Citizen girl
Favorite characters: Gr...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Anyone that isn't a stuck up rich snob!
Oh goodness! I loved this book! I couldn't put it down. If I was a rich snob with maids, nannies, and butlers I would have read it straight through! Alas! I am among the working class.
This book chronicles the life of a woman named Nannie for 9 months throughout her hellish tenure as the Nanny of a rich Park Avenue family. Throughout she must deal with the indecorous Mrs. X along with her uncompromising and outrageous demands as well as absentee father and husband Mr. X. All the while she ...more
This book chronicles the life of a woman named Nannie for 9 months throughout her hellish tenure as the Nanny of a rich Park Avenue family. Throughout she must deal with the indecorous Mrs. X along with her uncompromising and outrageous demands as well as absentee father and husband Mr. X. All the while she ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in October, 2007
I picked this book up because I wanted to see the movie. I hate to see a movie that's based on a book if I haven't read the book.
The Nanny Diaires appeals to a wide audience, I think, for one reason: We've all had a dead-end job with a demanding boss we hate, frustrated because we're waiting for life to begin. And this is exactly what's happened with Nan. The authors show a glimpse into a richer-than-any-person-should-concievably-be New York household. The collision of the very diffe...more
The Nanny Diaires appeals to a wide audience, I think, for one reason: We've all had a dead-end job with a demanding boss we hate, frustrated because we're waiting for life to begin. And this is exactly what's happened with Nan. The authors show a glimpse into a richer-than-any-person-should-concievably-be New York household. The collision of the very diffe...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
So what the heck am I doing reading chick lit? Okay, again, I'm in the car listening to chick lit; does that make it better?
This one was actually pretty good, probably because it focused not just on the main, self-centered character but on a child also. At some points in my day, I actually found myself thinking about Nanny and her charge. Strange but true.
So, I'd recommend it as a beach read or a listen but, again, not a sit down and soak it in kind of book.
And while we're on the sub...more
This one was actually pretty good, probably because it focused not just on the main, self-centered character but on a child also. At some points in my day, I actually found myself thinking about Nanny and her charge. Strange but true.
So, I'd recommend it as a beach read or a listen but, again, not a sit down and soak it in kind of book.
And while we're on the sub...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Has a copy to sell/swap
—
Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone who takes care of children
The Nanny Diaries was a great example of chic lit in its finest. The story is about the trials and tribulations of a Nanny for hire (convieniently named Nanny). Nanny becomes not just the caregiver of an overly stimualted child of a-I'm too rich to be seen with you-does this Gucci handbag make me look fat-mother who has no time for her own kid, and a cheating equally unattentive father.All the while Nanny is contributing the only loving relationship the child; Grayer; knows. Nanny is also a seni...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Downloaded from Audible.com
Narrator: Julia Roberts
Publisher: Random House Audio, 2002
Length: 4 hours and 44 min. (abridged)
Romantic Times Award Winner - Best Chick Lit Novel, 2002
Publisher's Summary
Who wouldn't want this job? Struggling to graduate from NYU and afford her microscopic studio apartment, Nanny takes a position caring for the only son of the wealthy X family. She rapidly learns the insane amount of juggling involved to ensure that a Park Avenue wife who doesn't work, cook, ...more
Narrator: Julia Roberts
Publisher: Random House Audio, 2002
Length: 4 hours and 44 min. (abridged)
Romantic Times Award Winner - Best Chick Lit Novel, 2002
Publisher's Summary
Who wouldn't want this job? Struggling to graduate from NYU and afford her microscopic studio apartment, Nanny takes a position caring for the only son of the wealthy X family. She rapidly learns the insane amount of juggling involved to ensure that a Park Avenue wife who doesn't work, cook, ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in March, 2008
Podría decirse que es un libro extrovertido: personajes casi anónimos como "Nanny" o los "señores X", de los que apenas se intuyen los sentimientos, protagonizando anécdotas en presente llenas de colorido, con un exceso de marcas comerciales y otros elementos de cultura pop (así como frases completas en mayúsculas, con letras repetidas diez veces para indicar que se grita y muchas exclamaciones).
Lo que sí me gusta del libro son los momentos en que se olvida de criti...more
Lo que sí me gusta del libro son los momentos en que se olvida de criti...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Has a copy to sell/swap
—
Read in March, 2008
recommended to Shaina by:
co-worker
This book has incredibly bad dialogue and stupidly ineffective scene cuts that more than vaguely echo those found in poorly edited films. I keep finding myself thinking I must've skipped a page because the action/thoughts/dialogue on one page are so abruptly left to hang as the authors skip to the next segment. I suppose they simply got tired or bored of what was happening and overeager to move on with the plot advancement (what little there is) and screw the art of transition in the process.
...more
...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
If you must insist on reading chick lit, I recommend this one. There's a romantic subplot and lots of shopping and snarky best-friend banter, of course, but the main relationship in the story is between the main character (called Nan or Nanny by everyone in the story) and her four-year-old charge, Grayer.
Both authors used to be nannies in New York City, and you can tell they really enjoyed venting their frustration about past employers in this book. There's the controlling, neurotic mother, t...more
Both authors used to be nannies in New York City, and you can tell they really enjoyed venting their frustration about past employers in this book. There's the controlling, neurotic mother, t...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
recommended to Stacey by:
my mother-in-law
recommends it for: HA!
recommends it for: HA!
This book was a gift while I was working as a nanny. At first it was funny, with all of the little observations that all nannies make- mainly about a certain, small subsection of women who hire nannies- the wealthy, entitled, narcissistic bitches.
As the story progresses, it becomes obvious that the children are the losers, the parents have no business being parents, and the nannies do nothing to help make the family a better place. Instead they whine about mistreatment, go along with abuse,...more
As the story progresses, it becomes obvious that the children are the losers, the parents have no business being parents, and the nannies do nothing to help make the family a better place. Instead they whine about mistreatment, go along with abuse,...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in April, 2007
Although it has been quite awhile since I read this book, I found it to be a humorous read. The story revolves around Nanny, a 21-year-old college student at NYU who works part-time as a nanny. She lands a her job after a chance meeting in the park with the wealthy Mrs. X and is commissioned to take care of Grayer, a precocious four-year-old boy. Although Grayer is a handful, Nanny's real problems are with her employers. Mr and Mrs. X. Mrs. X, is a very hands-off mother who can be bossy, inconsi...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
One of those books that made me feel slightly nauseous while reading by the end. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all bad--I greatly enjoyed the clever bits in the beginning recounting the stereotypical nanny-mommy meeting as well as the purple prada heels Nanny inherits from Grayer's mom. Also, I quite enjoyed the cutting insight into the Manhattan/Park Avenue peeps, as I am quite familiar with many of that brand. I also liked the heightened, stylized quality the book took on, courtesy of the kind...more
Like this review?
yes
1 comments
Read in July, 2003
There were a couple of times where the only thing keeping me from throwing this across the room was the fact that I borrowed the book from crankyasanoldman.
Not that the book is bad, not at all; I was just frustrated with the characters. Mostly Mr. and Mrs. X - the parents who hire Nanny. My god - why *bother* having a child/wife if you hardly spend any time with them!?! Even Nanny irritated me at times - grow a spine already, woman! The only characters I really liked were Grayer (even tho h...more
Not that the book is bad, not at all; I was just frustrated with the characters. Mostly Mr. and Mrs. X - the parents who hire Nanny. My god - why *bother* having a child/wife if you hardly spend any time with them!?! Even Nanny irritated me at times - grow a spine already, woman! The only characters I really liked were Grayer (even tho h...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2007
This book was incredibly absorbing, but leaves the reader with mixed messages. I think it wants to be a penetrating exploration of the intersection between social class and child-raising, but in a way it ends up being about the difference between upper middle class and upper class, and trying to make more out of that difference than there really is. It could have been a study of progressive psychological subjection of Nanny by her employer, which was one of the most striking and horrifying par...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in February, 2008
I could reccommend this book if only for the way it made me want to get down in the floor and play more with my children. The distance that Mrs. X puts between herself and Grayer breaks my heart, as you can clearly see that he adores his mother, but can not persuade even a hint of affection from her. He relies completely on the stability he receives from a nanny. The most interesting part is toward the end of the book when the Xes and Nanny go to have lunch with another family in Nantucket, and ...more
Like this review?
yes
1 comments
