The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisenberger

In The Devil Wears Prada, author Lauren Weisenberger tells the story of a young female college graduate who becomes a “wage slave” working all hours as the assistant to the tyrannical editor of a prominent fashion magazine. Our young graduate learns that she’s won what appears to be the employment lottery, landing a job at a fashion magazine that many of her contemporaries “would kill for.” She sees the job as a stepping stone to becoming a writer, but over the course of a year while being an on-call slave to her boss, become distant to her parents, alienated from her boyfriend, and oblivious to her closest’s friend’s slide in to alcoholism. She eventually realizes that she has sacrificed the things closest to her (family, boyfriend friend and writing) in order to meet the excessive, outrageous, rude, bullying and tyrannical demands of her boss, one of the most respected-through-fear chief editors in the fashion industry. In order to succeed in her job, she appears to sacrifice her writing ambitions and relationships with the people most important to her in return for the moderate wages, free (or stolen) couture clothing, promises of future assignments, and the “psychic income” and “snob value” of working in close proximity to wealth and glamour. When faced with a crisis, our college graduate realizes that she has become like her boss; and in a sense, realizes that she’s been worshipping a golden calf rather than seeking the Promised Land.

This book has appeal to fashion gossips interested in what its “really like” working as an assistant to the chief editor of a fashion magazine. Lauren Weisenberger obviously knows what its like; she writes with the voice of experience, confidence, and reality. As ridiculous as the chief editor’s behavior is, the author is very convincing in telling her audience that such behavior is not uncommon. Our author keeps the reader’s interest by sprinkling the story with insider tid-bits that demonstrate the glamour, mystique, absurdity, celebrity and attraction of the fashion business. But on another level, our author shows that the young and ambitious college graduates (or anyone for that matter) can sacrifice their dreams and most important relationships while they “succeed” in their career. In this instance, an erudite and scholarly college graduate, after a year in a “dream job” almost becomes a younger version of the boss she dislikes – a bullying, cruel, manipulative, tyrannical bully. This is the message of this engaging and entertaining book, a message applicable to all people, regardless of where you live and work. Beware of what you wish for. Beware of whom you associate.