2003 novel on which 2006 film is based
The Devil Wears Prada
is a 2003
novel
by
Lauren Weisberger
about a young woman who is hired as a
personal assistant
to a powerful
fashion
magazine
editor
, a job that becomes nightmarish as she struggles to keep up with her boss's grueling schedule and demeaning demands. It spent six months on the
New York Times
bestseller list
and became the basis for the
2006 film of the same name
, starring
Meryl Streep
,
Anne Hathaway
, and
Emily Blunt
. The novel is considered by many to be an example of the "
chick lit
" genre.
[1]
[2]
Upon its publication
The Devil Wears Prada
attracted attention because of its author's background. Before writing the novel, Weisberger had worked as a
personal assistant
for American
Vogue
editor
Anna Wintour
, much like the novel's protagonist works for a powerful fashion magazine editor, who also happens to be British like Wintour. Reviewers considered the book a
roman a clef
, offering insider perspectives on Wintour and other
Vogue
staff.
[3]
[4]
A sequel,
Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns
, was published in 2013, while a third novel,
When Life Gives You Lululemons
, was published in 2018.
[5]
[6]
Plot summary
[
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]
Andrea Sachs, a recent graduate of
Brown University
with a degree in
English
, moves to
New York City
with her best friend, Lily, a graduate student at
Columbia
. Andrea hopes to find a career in publishing and blankets the city with her resume. She believes she will be closer to her dream of working for
The New Yorker
if she can get a job in the magazine industry. She gets a surprise interview at the Elias-Clark Group and is hired as junior assistant for
Miranda Priestly
, editor-in-chief of the fashion magazine
Runway
. Although she knows little of the fashion world, everyone tells her that "a million girls would die for [her] job". If she manages to work for Miranda for a year, people tell her, she can have her choice of jobs within the magazine industry.
At a celebrity party, Andrea meets Christian Collinsworth, a charismatic
Yale
graduate who is considered one of the hot, new up-and-coming writers of their generation. They are attracted to each other, which complicates her relationship with her boyfriend, Alex.
Andrea's relationships become entangled because of her new job. Lily increasingly turns to alcohol and picks up dubious men to relieve the pressure of graduate school. Alex, struggling with his own demanding job as an inner-city schoolteacher, grows frustrated with Andrea's long hours and constant stress. Andrea's relationship with her family also suffers. Matters finally come to a head when her co-worker, Emily, gets
mononucleosis
and Andrea must travel to Paris with Miranda in her stead. In Paris, she has a surprise encounter with Christian. Later that night, Miranda finally lets down her guard and asks Andrea what she has learned, and where she wants to work afterwards. She promises to place phone calls to people she knows at the
New Yorker
on Andrea's behalf once her year is up and suggests she take on some small writing assignments at
Runway
.
Back at the hotel, Andrea gets urgent calls from Alex and her parents asking her to call them. She does and learns that Lily is comatose after driving drunk and wrecking a car. Though her family and Alex pressure her to return home, she tells Miranda she will honor her commitment to
Runway
. Miranda is pleased, and says her future in magazine publishing is bright, but phones with another impossible demand at
Christian Dior
's Paris fashion show. Andrea decides that her family and friends are more important than her job, and realizes to her horror that she is becoming more and more like Miranda. She refuses to comply with Miranda's latest outrageous request, and when Miranda scolds her publicly, Andrea replies, "Fuck you, Miranda.
Fuck you
." She is fired on the spot, and returns home to reconnect with friends and family. Her romantic relationship with Alex is beyond repair, but they remain friends. Lily recovers and is lucky to receive only community service for her DUI charge.
In the last chapter, Andrea learns her dispute with Miranda made her a minor celebrity when the incident made
Page Six
. Afraid she has been blacklisted from publishing for good, she moves back with her parents. She works on short fiction and finances her unemployment with profits made from reselling the designer clothing she was provided for her Paris trip.
Seventeen
buys one of her stories. At the novel's end, she returns to the Elias-Clark building to discuss a position at one of the company's other magazines and sees Miranda's new junior assistant, who looks as harried and put-upon as she once did.
Characters
[
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]
- Andrea "Andy" Sachs
, a recent
Brown
graduate hired as junior personal assistant to a powerful and tyrannical fashion magazine editor.
- Miranda Priestly
, the
British
-born (as Miriam Princhek) editor-in-chief of
Runway
, an influential fashion magazine published by the Elias-Clark company. She is known for wearing a white
Hermes
scarf
somewhere on her person every day, and treats her subordinates in a manner that borders on
emotional and psychological abuse
.
- Emily Charlton
, Miranda's former junior assistant, now her senior assistant. She and Andrea have a conflicted relationship.
- Alex Fineman
, Andrea's boyfriend, who teaches at an elementary school in the South
Bronx
through
Teach for America
.
- Lily Goodwin
, a free-spirited graduate student in
Russian literature
at Columbia with curly black hair. She is Andrea's roommate.
- Nigel
, a very tall
gay
British man who serves as
Runway
'
s creative director. He often appears on television as a fashion consultant and is one of the few stars of the magazine Andrea knows before she works there. He is a loud speaker with an outrageous sense of style, and the only person who can get away with critiquing Miranda's personal wardrobe choices.
- James
, another gay man at
Runway
who works at the beauty department. He befriends Andrea, and jokes about "calling in fat" on days when he feels unattractive.
- Jeffy
, who oversees
Runway
'
s famous "Closet." The Closet is stocked with clothing on loan from fashion designers for use in shoots, but is rarely returned and often "borrowed" by magazine staff. He is responsible for transforming Andrea's wardrobe so she can fit in among the fashionable hallways of
Runway
offices.
- Hunter Tomlinson
, a prominent New York tax attorney who is Miranda's current husband (she is divorced from the father of her two daughters, a well-known British rock star). As nice to Andrea and Emily as his wife is cruel, he is referred to by other close associates of Miranda's as "B-DAD" behind his back, for Blind Deaf and Dumb?the only way they could imagine anyone being able to live with her.
- Eduardo
, a security guard at the Elias-Clark building, who playfully makes Andrea or anyone else unfortunate enough to work as one of Miranda's personal assistants sing or put on some sort of act before he lets them enter the building.
- Christian Collinsworth
, a handsome young writer whom Andrea meets at a party. They develop a mutual attraction.
- Caroline
and
Cassidy
, the twin daughters Miranda dotes on.
- Cara
, the girls'
nanny
, who saves Andrea's skin more than once but is eventually fired by Miranda after she gives the twins a
timeout
in their bedroom for a bad attitude.
- Jill
, Andrea's older sister, who is married and lives in
Houston
, where she has begun to affect a
Southern accent
, much to Andrea's displeasure.
- The
Clackers
, the magazine's many female editorial staffers, mainly
Allison
(former senior assistant, now beauty editor),
Lucia
(fashion department),
Jocelyn
(editorial), and
Stef
(accessories). Andrea gives them their nickname for the sound their
stiletto heel
shoes make on the marble floors of the Elias-Clark building.
- Benjamin
, referred to as Benji. He is Lily's ex-boyfriend, but they have stayed in touch despite their breakup. He was involved in the car accident with Lily.
Conception
[
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]
Weisberger stated in publicity materials that Priestly's demands are partial fiction and a composite of actual experiences she and her friends had in their first jobs.
[7]
Some reviewers state that
Anna Wintour
, editor-in-chief of
Vogue
, was the inspiration for Priestly.
[8]
After the film was released, another one of Wintour's assistants was identified as the model for Emily.
[9]
Commercial and critical reception
[
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]
Kate Betts
, a former editor of
Harper's Bazaar
who also worked for Wintour at one point in her career, objected to the main character's lack of gratitude for the unique opportunity to work at
Vogue
: "[I]f Andrea doesn't ever realize why she should care about Miranda Priestly, why should we care about Andrea, or prize the text for anything more than the cheap frisson of the context?"
[10]
Janet Maslin
described the novel as "a mean-spirited
Gotcha!
of a book, one that offers little indication that the author could interestingly sustain a gossip-free narrative."
[11]
Maslin avoided naming either the magazine where Weisberger had worked or the woman on whom she allegedly modeled her main character,
[12]
a practice the
Times
continued when the film was released.
[13]
Jennifer Krauss of
Newsday
agreed that the book had problems but praised it as a "fun, frivolous read".
[14]
Film adaptation
[
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]
The film version was released on June 30, 2006 by
20th Century Fox
. It was produced by
Wendy Finerman
(
Forrest Gump
), freely adapted for the screen by
Aline Brosh McKenna
and directed by
David Frankel
.
Anne Hathaway
plays Andrea Sachs,
Emily Blunt
plays Miranda's Senior Assistant, Emily, and
Meryl Streep
earned critical praise, a
Golden Globe
and an
Academy Award for Best Actress
nomination as Miranda.
Filming began during fall 2005, on location in New York and Paris. Weisberger herself made a very brief non-speaking
cameo appearance
as the twins'
nanny
.
The film was very successful, taking in over $300 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film for both Streep and Hathaway to that date. In September, Weisberger and Frankel jointly accepted the first-ever
Quill
Variety
Blockbuster Book to Film Award.
Sequel
[
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]
Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns
, the book's sequel, is set a decade after the events of the first novel. In it, Andy is the editor for a new bridal magazine, but as she plans her own wedding she remains haunted by her experience with Miranda until the two meet again.
[15]
The
Associated Press
stated, "The book successfully sprinkles pop culture tidbits to keep up the breezy tone...for this summer, it's a pleasant, entertaining read in a tabloid magazine sort of way."
[16]
Departures
said, "Miranda Priestly returns, more delightfully terrifying than ever, in this delicious sequel to
The Devil Wears Prada
."
[17]
The
Richmond Times-Dispatch
called it "an excellent page turner for summer vacation."
[18]
BookReporter
wrote, "The reader is pulled into the glitz and glamour reminiscent of the New York Times bestseller
The Devil Wears Prada
and the movie adaptation."
[19]
The Washington Post
said, "Miranda is pretty much the only thing that makes this book interesting."
[20]
MSN.com
called the story "disconcerting".
[21]
A third novel,
When Life Gives You Lululemons
, was published in 2018.
Musical
[
edit
]
In 2015, it was reported that
Broadway
producer
Kevin McCollum
(
Rent
,
Avenue Q
amongst others) had signed a deal two years earlier with Fox to develop some of the films from its back catalog into
musicals
for the stage. He expressed particular interest in
Mrs. Doubtfire
and
The Devil Wears Prada
. Early in 2017, it was officially announced by McCollum that in partnership with
Fox Stage Productions
and Rocket Entertainment,
[22]
a musical version of
The Devil Wears Prada
(influenced by both the film and the book) would be produced.
Sir Elton John
(who also wrote the scores for
Billy Elliot
and
The Lion King
amongst others) was announced as the composer for the project and
Paul Rudnick
(most notable for writing the film
Sister Act
) would write the lyrics and story. The casting and production schedule is still to be announced but it is aimed to play on
Broadway
.
[23]
The musical opened in
Chicago
in July 2022 for a four-week tryout before a planned move to New York.
Beth Leavel
portrays Miranda and
Taylor Iman Jones
plays Andy. Paul Rudnick withdrew from the project prior to the opening.
[24]
[25]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Memmott, Carol (June 21, 2006).
"Chick lit, for better or worse, is here to stay"
.
USA Today
. Retrieved
May 5,
2014
.
Industry observers and booksellers say a glut of pedestrian chick lit has new fans returning to proven, now-classic novels such as
Nanny Diaries
(2002),
Bergdorf Blondes
by
Plum Sykes
(2004) and
The Devil Wears Prada
.
- ^
Wells, Juliette (2006).
"Chapter 3: Mothers of Chick Lit? Women Writers, Readers and Literary History"
. In Ferriss, Suzanne & Young, Malloy (eds.).
Chick Lit: The New Woman's Fiction
.
Routledge
. p. 54.
ISBN
9780415975025
. Retrieved
May 5,
2014
.
Heroines' professional identities and workday experiences are certainly important to the texture of chick-lit novels, and sometimes central to their plot: Weisberger's
The Devil Wears Prada
, for instance, is built around the young heroine's relationship with her fashion-magazine boss ...
- ^
Schwarzbaum, Lisa (June 21, 2006).
"The Devil Wears Prada"
.
Entertainment Weekly
. Retrieved
February 10,
2019
.
Lauren Weisberger, who wrote the hiss-and-tell roman a clef best-seller on which the picture is based, was herself an assistant to Wintour
- ^
Gilbert, Sophie (June 3, 2013).
"Lauren Weisberger's 'Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns'
"
.
The Washington Post
. Retrieved
February 10,
2019
.
Clearly, writing a roman a clef can be much more lucrative than working as an assistant at Conde Nast.
- ^
"
'The Devil Wears Prada' is getting a sequel!? Exclusive"
.
Entertainment Weekly
. May 31, 2012
. Retrieved
May 31,
2012
.
- ^
"Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns Gets A Very Red Cover"
.
Cinema Blend
. March 17, 2013
. Retrieved
August 23,
2014
.
- ^
"
'The Devil Wears Prada'
"
.
Author Q&A
. Random House
. Retrieved
July 4,
2009
.
- ^
Smith, Kyle (June 30, 2006).
"Guy at the Movies"
.
The New York Post
. Retrieved
May 26,
2009
.
- ^
"Leslie Fremar Haunts Lauren Weisberger's Dreams"
.
Gawker
. July 11, 2006. Archived from
the original
on July 14, 2006
. Retrieved
May 10,
2017
.
- ^
Betts, Kate (April 13, 2003).
"
'The Devil Wears Prada': Anna Dearest"
.
The New York Times Book Review
. Retrieved
February 7,
2007
.
- ^
Maslin, Janet (April 14, 2003).
"Books of the Times: Elegant Magazine, Avalanche of Dirt"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
Colford, Paul (April 15, 2003).
"Wintour of Discontent"
.
New York Daily News
. Archived from
the original
on April 17, 2003.
- ^
Scott, A.O. (June 30, 2006).
"
'The Devil Wears Prada': Review"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
August 23,
2014
.
- ^
Krauss, Jennifer (April 14, 2003).
"It's Working Girl Meets Cruella de Ville"
.
Newsday
. New York. Archived from
the original
on April 23, 2003.
- ^
Lee, Stephan (March 15, 2013).
"See the Cover of 'Revenge Wears Prada', Sequel to 'Devil Wears Prada'?Exclusive"
.
Entertainment Weekly
. Retrieved
March 20,
2013
.
- ^
Critchell, Samantha.
"Book review: The devil is in the details of 'Revenge Wears Prada'
"
.
Lincoln Journal Star
. Retrieved
July 19,
2022
.
- ^
McGee, Celia (April 23, 2013).
"Summer Reading List"
.
Departures
. Retrieved
July 19,
2022
.
- ^
Sharp, Michelle (July 21, 2013).
"Book review (fiction): Revenge Wears Prada"
.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
.
- ^
"Editorial Content for Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns"
.
BookReporter
.
- ^
Gilbert, Sophie.
"Lauren Weisberger's 'Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns'
"
.
The Washington Post
. Retrieved
July 19,
2019
.
- ^
Erbland, Kate (March 19, 2013).
"Fan of the Ending of 'Devil Wears Prada'? You Might Not Be Wild About Its New Sequel"
. Archived from
the original
on March 23, 2013
. Retrieved
March 20,
2013
.
- ^
Paulson, Michael (April 8, 2018).
"
'The Devil Wears Prada' Is Aiming for Broadway, as a Musical"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
April 8,
2018
.
- ^
Parsons, Ellen (January 26, 2017).
"Elton John and Paul Rudnick to write The Devil Wears Prada musical"
.
The Sydney Morning Herald
. Retrieved
April 8,
2018
.
- ^
Culwell-Block, Logan (July 19, 2022).
"The Devil Wears Prada Stage Musical Begins World Premiere in Chicago July 19"
.
Playbill
. Retrieved
July 19,
2022
.
- ^
Houlihan, Mary (July 18, 2022).
"
'The Devil Wears Prada' stage musical arrives in grand style for world premiere in Chicago"
.
Chicago Sun-Times
.
External links
[
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]