Anyone read 'The Nanny Diaries'?

[preshi]

The cover said it was "Uprariously Funny" I loved the book but found it quite sad and disturbing and quite true to real life these days in age. A couple things were cute... but I never once laughed out loud... Poor Grayer

I highly recommend it... but not for comedy purposes...

 

[Pinnie]

I actually found it quite sad, too.

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[bananiem]

I didn't find it funny either. I guess it hit too close to home. I saw too many disinterested parents when I worked in childcare. I felt horrible for Grayer at the end. The one constant in his life was ripped away. Even though it's supposed to be fiction, you know it happens to some poor child every day.

 

[Cindy B]

Funny you should mention it.. I just finished this book.


Having been in a nanny for a fancy family, it sounded way too familiar. The kids do get neglected all the time, while the parents do their own thing.

Some of it was funny... like the earmuffs for a present, and how true to life the parents are ... (being helpless).

But the taking advantage of the nannies time, and overstepping boundaries within the nanny, the ignorance of the child, all too real....


Being from that position, I found some of it ringing home for me as well.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I read it.

However since I don't know anybody who has a nanny and I don't know any NY Society people, I really didn't find much in there that I could relate to..... the little boy was pretty sad however. It was also sad in the end when the Mother got herself pregnant again to try and save the marriage.

I kept getting the feeling that if we would put the clues all together we were supposed to know who these people are IRL, I just couldn't connect.

 

[kdibattista]

Darn... I just picked this up for the beach. Doesn't sound quite so good now

 

[Lynn CC]

I read it when it first came out and loved it! I worked in childcare for 11 years and found a lot of parents to be that way. It's almost as if their children are bothersome
Poor Grayer

 

[preshi]

Originally posted by kdibattista
Darn... I just picked this up for the beach. Doesn't sound quite so good now

it's a good book... but just so sad... I went from angry to sad back to mad and then back to sad.... I couldnt put it down.. it's like a soap opera in a book.

 

[Michelle]

It's an AWESOME book, very entertaining and a quick read, I read it last year.

It definitely is a telling tale, though, and it's not a comedy.

 

[Beanie]

I have read it also and found it very true to life! I really liked this book and couldn't put it down!

 

[Snowwark]

I enjoyed it also, and yes, it brought forth a whole gamut of emotions. I would recommend it!

 

[Amzey]

I loved it, especially since I do babysit in New York City, and for a couple pretty wacked out families (though some wonderful ones as well). There's one kid I sit for who breaks my heart, he never ever sees his mother. I remember one night I was reading him a story and all of a sudden he just started screaming, "Mommy, please please come home, I love you Mommy, it's me _____, please come home!!" It broke my heart, the poor thing is only 2 and a half and his mother leaves him with his nanny at 6 am, then a couple nights a week I'd come at 6:30 pm and stay until midnight or later.

I did find parts of the book funny, like Grayer's wassailing and his mother's shock when he accidentally comes out into the apartment naked. But the ending of the book was incredibly sad, I thought.

 

[BobbinWeez]

The Nanny Diaries was a great book..at least I thought so. I agree that the end was sad and parts weren't funny at all but come on you've had to have laughed at the Halloween party part of the book when she's all dressed up like a Teletubby. I almost wet myself I was laughing so hard at that part.

 

[mrsv98]

Well, I was a nanny for 12 years and parts of that book are very true. The first family I worked for lived in Washington DC and were nuts. They had a crazy cleaning lady. They were supposed to be moving to a larger house right away where I would have my own suite. When I got there, it was more like at least 6 months of sleeping on a hide-a-bed with no privacy at all. They would go out at night, well past my finishing time with no compensation. They had a baby nurse in addition to me who wouldn't let me near the baby. The 3 (almost 4)yo was not potty trained and was so spoiled that he once had a 30 min tantrum because I put his spoon on the wrong side of the cereal bowl. I lasted a month and then heard thru the grapevine that is was the EIGHTH nanny in a year! I did feel sorry for the child but also felt lucky to get out of there alive!

Now the second family I worked for was wonderful. I was there just about 12 years and we used to joke that I would go from taking care of the childre to caring for the parents! I am still in close contact with the family. The oldest is a Jr at Northwestern and the youngest is a senior in HS who just received perfect scores on his SATs. Can you tell I am proud of them?!

Anyway, I liked the book, but read it with a wry eye since it did come close to home! But it is a good beach read!

 

[Megan's Mom]

I listened to the book. Julia Roberts reads it and it is very good except that language is really pretty bad. That was my only complaint with the book. It is sad that people would have children only to never spend time with them. They are just accessories to their "perfect" life.

 

[bobcat]

I listened to it on tape on the way back from WDW last summer. I didn't like the nanny because she let the family walk all over her. Have a little self respect. By the end of the book I was so fed up with her.

If you want LOL funny read Jennifer Cruisie.

 

[CathyCanada]

I felt the same as you, Meagan, I found many of Grayer's escapades cute and funny, but I was disturbed and sad at the end.
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