The Devil Wears Prada.Lauren Weisberger, 2003

The book is just one more example of "chick lit" and the hugely successful college grad prose of late. It is though too long and repetetive to be a very good sample of that trend - a 300 page cut would have been beneficial for the whole enterprise. The language though is not entirely devoid of wit and reflects the mentality of the current majority of 20-something female population.

The main character dreams of writing for the "New Yorker" but winds up instead in a fashion magazine, where she has to take the abuse of her monstrous queen-of-the-fashion-world boss. This 'drama' of the heroine is not really exploited by the writer - it builds up towards a schizoid menal scheme which we see demonstrated also in the character's admiration for her boss whom she considers "a true" lady while discribing her totally inhuman proclivities in great detail....?!

Identification with the corporate victim is one of the reasons, I suppose, for this novel's popularity - the average person hates their boss and the novel provides a final sublimation of that hatred through the character's liberating declaration of "F..ck you" thrown in the face of that boss. The other reason for the book's success is its subject matter -- fashion, glamour, designers, page-long description of racks and racks of toilettes, boxes of accessories, and shoes (given out for free). The abuse we are ready to take in exchange for clothes and shoes - this is mindboggling...