Like many other women, I have watched the film (several times thanks to the dvd). It is a fun girl's evening-in movie that my daughter and I enjoy. So I didn't bother to read the book for a long time. A couple of weeks ago, though, I read that Laura Weisberger is writing a sequel. I like the movie so I thought, "give the book a try and then you'll be able to enjoy the sequel." Naturally, the book is fashion fun, All the fat/thin conversations (obsessions), boss from hell situations and general thoughts of the protagonist are there in even greater detail.
The book gives me a more subtle approach to the fashion conversion of Andy. I also saw a clearer picture of why her romantic relationship broke down. The film presented the problems as issues of time, availability and priorities, which are of course important in a relationship. But, he seemed to do more sulking than thinking. It is not the challenges that destroy a couple but how you approach those challenges as a couple. In the book it felt to me that the reason he broke up with Andy was not that she made good or bad decisions but that they were different from what he would have done. He did not sulk, but he did judge. Andy finally "does the right thing", as he defines it, but under her own hilarious terms; independent of all those people trying to pressure her.
In the book I read a good look inside Andy's head. The new relationships she builds and the people she meets both "high" and "low" teach her to think... not just react. This is an important point because her mother and father can be overbearing and so can the angelic boyfriend. She does the right thing for different reasons than her boyfriend or parents. Andy did indeed learn by working at 'Runway'. She grew up. So, yes, she changed perhaps she out grew her parents and boyfriend. The fact that the trauma of working for Miranda Priestly gave her inspiration for writing was an added bonus. What I mean is, that I know people who travel to foreign places or work amazing jobs without introspection, curiosity or intelligence. Andy grows because she brings all three together. She faces her own nasty parts (not necessarily Miranda's) and decides for herself what to keep and what to throw out. And yes, just in passing, there are also people in my acquaintance that can bring all three together, though none, I think, had a boss like Miranda Priestly. All in all, a great read for so called "chic-lit" I can't wait for the sequel.
Lauren Weisberger
ISBN: 9780007156108
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