Awards: NYT Bestseller: Motion Picture (does that count as an award?)
First Line: Every season of my nanny career kicked off with a round of interviews so surreally similar that I'd often wonder if the mothers were slipped a secret manual at the Parents League to guide them through.
Best line:I realize from their glazed smiles that they've just cast me in every nanny-themed porn film ever screened in their frat house basements.
Book Blurb: 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 important, he rsense 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.
The Critics Say: As a satire, it's brilliantly funny. As a novel. . .not so much. Plot and characterization are ignored in favor of hilarious tidbits and observations of the elite. Addictive to read, funny. . .exactly what you expect out of your chicklit.
I say: I confess. I'm guilty. I couldn't put the book down. Read it in one night. Beautifully contrived voice: Nanny's observations move the book along. It loses steam when the writers veer from their social satire: sure, there's the boyfriend, graduation, rooming issues. . .but let's be honest, that's all kind of boring and vague. The boyfriend is "perfect." The mother is "wonderful." The apartment is "small." And. . .that's enough for that. In the same way, the entire X family, around whom the story revolves, are just basic archetypes. Mom is frosty and cold, Dad philanders, and the son is cute as a button.
The book is saved by a savvy voice, quick pacing, and countless one-liners. It's a breathless read as one situation boils into another, then another, then another. The parties begin innocuous enough, but by the end there are frosting fights with cokehead mothers, parties with affairs occuring alongside costumed masquerades, and a delightful explosion in Nantucket -- made even the more delightful with the addition of a cute puppy, a cantankerous grandma, and the simple fact that the setting is Nantucket, rather than the Hamptons.
And, by the by, if you've seen the movie and come to the conclusion that it was awful (which is was) don't let that sour you on the book. Nanny, though slightly martyred in the novel, has a generally pragmatic approach, and the events shape the book more than the movie. Plus, it avoids all the schmaltz at the end.
Recommendation: If you have balls, avoid at all costs. If you are snooty and look down upon chick lit, avoid at all costs. If you want a light book to read at the beach, this one is a step above most of those "women looking for love" stories, and has a bit more heft. Do not plan on getting any smarter reading this.
Ratings: Overall: B
Plot: B-
Pacing: A
Characterization: F
Writing: A-
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