The Nanny Diaries
by Emma McLaughlin, Nicola Kraus
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| 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 |
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 13544)
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Read in January, 2004
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in February, 2005
An excerpt from my readers response notebook
So I understand that the authors have worked as nannies and have drawn upon their experiences to write this work of "fiction" but it is astonishing that the events that Nan details about caring for Grover and working for Mrs. K are fathomable.
I keep revisiting this idea of parenting being the one career that comes with no prerequisite of qualifications. It only occurs through on-the-job training. And in the case of Mr. and Mr...more
So I understand that the authors have worked as nannies and have drawn upon their experiences to write this work of "fiction" but it is astonishing that the events that Nan details about caring for Grover and working for Mrs. K are fathomable.
I keep revisiting this idea of parenting being the one career that comes with no prerequisite of qualifications. It only occurs through on-the-job training. And in the case of Mr. and Mr...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
someone stuck on an airplane
My roommate brought this book home and got two thirds of the way through it when she couldn't take it anymore, read the end of it, and put it down. She was so frustrated with it that it peaked my curiosity and I started it, and read the whole thing actually.
It wasn't a terrible book, it just didn't live up to the hype. It was entertaining and would be a good airplane read, but that's about all you should expect from it. The plot moves very slow and the story line is just about how terribl...more
It wasn't a terrible book, it just didn't live up to the hype. It was entertaining and would be a good airplane read, but that's about all you should expect from it. The plot moves very slow and the story line is just about how terribl...more
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