On April 30, one of the most anticipated films of the spring will be released – “The Devil Wears Prada 2”, which made the whole world fall in love with the image of glamorous fashion magazine editors. If you liked Lauren Weisberger's novel about the everyday life of a fashion editor, here is a selection of books that may interest you – some of them show this industry much more realistically.
“When Life Gives You Lululemon,” Lauren Weisberger
Lauren Weisberger is the writer who gave the world the story “The Devil Wears Prada.” The novel was published in 2003, was translated into dozens of languages, and became the basis for one of the most popular films of the 2000s.
In the novel “When Life Gives You Lululemon” (2019), the plot centers on Emily Charlton, Miranda Priestly's first assistant and now a very successful image consultant. She works in Hollywood with stars, but lately she has been having disastrous luck with clients. But one day she finds the right client – although to do this she has to move to the suburbs, which Emily cannot stand.
“When Life Gives You Lululemon” is a light, life-affirming, and ironic book that is perfect for getting you into the mood for diving into the universe of “The Devil Wears Prada.”
How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran
If you're not familiar with the work of the famous American journalist, feminist, and Times columnist Caitlin Moran, it's time to fix that. Moran grew up in a family of guitarists and was married to a rock critic for The Times, so she's a true insider into the music world.
The novel “How to Build a Girl” is inspired by her own teenage years, when she worked at a music magazine, and tells the story of young Dolly Wilde, who works at a music newspaper, has affairs with men, writes provocative letters to rock stars, and trashes bands in reviews.
The book immerses you in the everyday life of the editorial office, and also shows a touching and bohemian path of self-discovery and formation in this environment.
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The Vanity Fair Diaries: 1983–1992 by Tina Brown,
Tina Brown is a legend of glossy journalism, a former editor-in-chief of The Tatler, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker, as well as the author of bestsellers about the life of the royal family – The Diana Chronicles and The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor, the Truth and the Turmoil.
“The Vanity Fair Diaries,” based on real-life notes Brown kept while working at the publication in the 1980s, was named one of the best books of 2017 by Time, People, The Guardian, and Vogue. It's the story of a young Englishwoman who comes to New York with a dream. Working at Vanity Fair, Tina Brown is immediately thrown into the competitive New York media world and working for one of the most famous magazine companies in the world. Faced with fierce skepticism, she reimagines the struggling magazine and makes history in glossy journalism.
“The Imperfectionists,” Tom Ruckman
A sad yet witty novel, The Imperfectionists, by Canadian writer and journalist Tom Rahman, a former editor and international correspondent for the Associated Press, is a story about the world of foreign journalists living in Rome in the early 2000s and working for a “traditional” English-language newspaper that is in decline due to the rapid rise of online publications.
Drawing on his own experience as a foreign correspondent, the author lovingly and humorously paints portraits of “amazing characters who have nothing in common except serving a doomed idea.” The most interesting thing about Rahman's novel is that, if you work in the media, you will easily recognize these types of journalists.
“Diana Vreeland Memos: The Vogue Years”, Diana Vreeland
For more than eight years, the great Diana Vreeland led American Vogue (1963–1971) and brought Edie Sedgwick, Twiggy, the sexual revolution and completely new topics for fashion magazines at the time, such as health and art, to its pages. Under her leadership, the magazine became truly innovative. Vreeland herself had a specific working style: she rarely held meetings and communicated with staff and photographers using notes dictated in her office or apartment on Park Avenue.
A compilation of over 250 fragments of Vreeland's personal correspondence, including letters to Cecil Beaton, Horst P. Horst, Veruschka and Cristobal Balenciaga, as well as notes to colleagues at Vogue, “Diana Vreeland Memos: The Vogue Years” is a glimpse into the world of the brilliant, bold, and creative editor of Vogue.