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Interviews | November 19, 2009

Dave: IMG Finding John Irving: The Powells.com Interview



johnirving[Editor's note: The following is a reprint of our 2005 interview with John Irving, whose new novel, Last Night in Twisted River, has just come out... Continue »
  1. $19.60 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

The Nanny Diaries

by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

The Nanny Diaries Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

The #1 New York Times Bestseller!

“Diabolically funny.” –The New York Times

“A National Phenomenon.” -Newsweek

Wanted:

One young woman to take care of four-year-old boy. Must be cheerful, enthusiastic and selfless—bordering on masochistic. Must relish sixteen-hour shifts with a deliberately nap-deprived preschooler. Must love getting thrown up on, literally and figuratively, by everyone in his family. Must enjoy the delicious anticipation of ridiculously erratic pay. Mostly, must love being treated like fungus found growing out of employers Hermès bag. Those who take it personally need not apply.

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, clean, or raise her own child has a smooth day.

When the Xs marriage begins to disintegrate, Nanny ends up involved way beyond the bounds of human decency or good taste. Her tenure with the X family becomes a nearly impossible mission to maintain the mental health of their four-year-old, her own integrity and, most importantly, her sense of humor. Over nine tense months, Mrs. X and Nanny perform the age-old dance of decorum and power as they test the limits of modern-day servitude.

“[Nanny is] Mary Poppins channeling Dorothy Parker.” -Time

“Impossible to put down.” –Vogue

“McLaughlin and Kraus... [have a] carefully calibrated sense of compassion and delicious sense of the absurd.” -Entertainment Weekly

Review:

"[D]iabolically funny....[The] heroine...is a vastly entertaining narrator and impromptu social critic....This book is saved from self-righteousness not only by the authors' cleverness but also by their compassion." Janet Maslin, The New York Times Book Review

Review:

"[S]harply observed and stylishly written." W

Review:

"[T]he details, devastating as they are, ring true, making this [book]...impossible to put down." Vogue

Review:

"[T]he wicked fascination of this novel lies in all the wacky tidbits about life in the social stratosphere....[V]ery funny..." New York Magazine

Synopsis:

Read by Julia Roberts

Based on the real-life experiences, the inside story on the real lives of the rich and privileged from the women who know all the secrets - the nannies.

The Nanny Diaries deftly skewers the manner in which America's over-privileged raises les petites - as if grooming them for a Best of Show competition. A poignant satire, it punctures the glamor of Manhattan's upper class to tackle head-on the truer state of backstairs Park Avenue.

Struggling to graduate from NYU and afford her microscopic apartment, Nanny takes a job caring for the only son of the wealthy X family. She rapidly learns the insane amount of juggling involved in ensuring that a Park Avenue wife who doesn't work, cook, clean, or raise her own child has a smooth day.

When the X's marriage begins to disintegrate, Nanny's nearly impossible mission becomes maintaining the mental health of their four-year-old, her own integrity, and most importantly, her sense of humor. Over nine tense months Mrs X and Nanny perform the age old dance of decorum and power as they test the limits of modern-day servitude.

Product Details

ISBN:
9780553714753
performance Read:
Roberts, Julia
Publisher:
Random House
Author:
McLaughlin, Emma
Author:
Kraus, Nicola
Author:
Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
Location:
New York, N.Y.
Subject:
General
Subject:
Audiobooks
Subject:
Humorous
Subject:
Manhattan (new york, n.y.)
Subject:
Nannies
Subject:
Satire
Subject:
Humorous fiction
Subject:
Rich people
Subject:
Talking books.
Subject:
Talking book collection.
Subject:
Manhattan
Subject:
Park Avenue
Edition Number:
Abridged.
Edition Description:
Sound cassettes.
Abridged:
Yes
Series Volume:
#283]
Publication Date:
February 2002
Binding:
Analog Audio Cassette
Language:
English
Pages:
3 sound cassettes (ca. 5
Dimensions:
7.22x4.48x1.26 in. .30 lbs.
Media Run Time:
315 minutes

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