Lauren Weisberger is an American novelist and author of the 2003 bestseller The Devil
Wears Prada, a speculated roman à clef of her real life experience as a put-upon assistant
to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
Early life and education Weisberger was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania,
to a school teacher mother and a department-store-president turned mortgage-broker father.
Her family is Jewish; Weisberger was raised in Conservative Judaism and later Reform Judaism.
She spent her early youth in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, a small town outside Scranton.
At 11, her parents divorced and she and her younger sister, Mindy, moved to Allentown,
Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state, with their mother.
At Parkland High School, in South Whitehall Township near Allentown, Weisberger was involved
in intramural sports, some competitive sports, extra projects, and organizations.
She graduated in 1995.
She attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where she was an English major and
a sorority member of Alpha Epsilon Phi, graduating in 1999.
After college, she traveled as a backpacker through Europe, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Thailand,
India, Nepal, and Hong Kong.
Returning home, she moved to Manhattan and was hired as Wintour's assistant at Vogue.
She was there for ten months before leaving along with features editor Richard Story.
While Weisberger said she felt out of place at the magazine, managing editor Laurie Jones
later said, "She seemed to be a perfectly happy, lovely woman".
Weisberger and Story began working for Departures Magazine, an American Express publication,
where she wrote 100-word reviews and became an assistant editor.
She also published a 2004 article in Playboy magazine.
After mentioning her interest in writing classes to her boss, Richard Story, he referred her
to his friend Charles Salzberg.
She started writing a story about her time at Vogue, and completed it by trying to write
15 pages every couple of weeks.
After repeated urgings, she showed the finished work to agents; it sold within two weeks.
Author The Devil Wears Prada
In 2003, Weisberger's first book, The Devil Wears Prada, was released and spent six months
on the New York Times Best Seller List.
The book is a semi-fictional but highly critical view of the Manhattan elite.
As of July 2006, The Devil Wears Prada was the best-selling mass-market softcover book
in the nation, according to Publishers Weekly.
The book is largely based on Weisberger's experience at Vogue.
There is much speculation that the character of Miranda Priestly represents aspects of
Anna Wintour.
The fictional Elias-Clark publishing company is said to be modeled after Condé Nast.
The book calls into light the many aspects of one's first job.
It also highlights the presumed insanity of the fashion world and the difficulty and pressure
a person goes through when trying to balance a demanding job with an adequate social life.
The book provides a comical insight into the fashion world.
While this book was met with stunning success, one former employee of Anna Wintour, Kate
Betts, criticized Weisberger and the book in The New York Times, saying that Weisberger
and Wintour are the direct counterparts of their fictional characters and that "Andrea
... is just as much a snob as the snobs she is thrown in with."
She further hints that Andrea's portrayal within the book does not suggest that she
is in any way above fetching lattes.
Lauren Weisberger has published a sequel of the book: Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns.
Film A movie of the same name, based on the novel,
was released by 20th Century Fox in June 2006, starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway.
The film grossed $27.5 million in its opening weekend, amassing total U.S. sales of $125
million and total worldwide sales of $322 million, making it one of the top grossing
films of summer 2006.
The film departs from the book in several ways.
For example, Andrea is a graduate of Northwestern University in the film, not Brown.
The film shows Miranda requesting Andrea go to Paris with her because she is dissatisfied
with her first assistant, Emily.
The book, on the other hand, has Emily catching mono, thus not being able to go with Miranda.
Further, Lily, Andrea's best friend, is the main reason Andrea leaves Paris in the book.
Lily is an alcoholic and gets into a car crash.
Andrea has to decide whether to stay with Miranda or go to her friend.
The movie does not include any of these details and ends with Andy and Miranda viewing one
another with mutual respect.
The book affords Andrea no such gratitude as she curses Miranda to her face and is consequently
fired.
Television In October 2006, Fox television acquired the
television rights to the book, and a television series of the same name had been expected
to be developed by Fox in 2007.
Weisberger has since appeared on the television talk shows Tout le monde en parle and The
Today Show.
Everyone Worth Knowing Weisberger's second novel, Everyone Worth
Knowing, was published in fall 2005, and is based upon the trials and tribulations of
the New York City public relations world.
It received generally unfavorable reviews.
The New York Times Book Review described it as "fatuous, clunky."
USA Today called it "lackluster imitation," and Entertainment Weekly said it was "ho-hum
rehash."
Despite debuting on The New York Times Best Sellers List at No. 10, it dropped off the
list in two weeks and was noted for its disappointing sales.
Publisher Simon & Schuster paid Weisberger $1 million for the novel.
The audio book was read by actress Eliza Dushku.
In some European countries this novel was released as Gossip and Gucci.
Chasing Harry Winston Chasing Harry Winston is Weisberger's third
novel, which was released on May 27, 2008.
It was released in the United Kingdom on May 19, 2008.
The main characters are three best friend New Yorkers, Emmy, Adriana and Leigh, who
are facing the horror of turning 30.
Recently dumped Emmy promises to make a drastic change and find guys from every continent
for casual affairs.
Beautiful Brazilian Adriana in turn tries to leave her old lifestyle of sleeping around
and living off daddy in order to get a Harry Winston ring on her finger before the first
wrinkles start showing.
Leigh, the one with the perfect life, does not know what she needs in order to be happy
and to be able to relax.
In September 2008, it was announced that Universal Pictures had picked up the rights to the book.
It was also announced that the movie will be translated into French, Dutch and Italian.
In some European countries this novel was released as Chanel Chic, and in Italy the
title is Un anello da Tiffany & Co.
In France the title is Sexe, diamants et plus si affinités
The book was panned by critics and was voted "#1 Worst Book of 2008" by Entertainment Weekly.
Last Night at Chateau Marmont Last Night at Chateau Marmont was released
in August 2010.
It debuted at No. 9 on the New York Times Bestseller List on September 5, 2010.
Revenge Wears Prada Revenge Wears Prada, a sequel to The Devil
Wears Prada, was released on June 4, 2013.
It debuted at No. 3 on the New York Times Bestseller List.
Short Stories Her short story "The Bamboo Confessions" is
included in the anthology American Girls About Town, and is about a New York City backpacker
who travels around the world and begins to view her love life back home in a different
light.
Personal life Weisberger lives in New York City.
Bibliography The Devil Wears Prada
Everyone Worth Knowing Chasing Harry Winston
Last Night at Chateau Marmont Revenge Wears Prada
References
External links Lauren Weisberger Official Web Site.
Lauren Weisberger interview at BarnesandNoble.com.
Interview with Lauren Weisberger in SomethingJewish.
Interview with Lauren Weisberger in UChic.
Interview with Lauren Weisberger at Canada.com.
Profile of Lauren Weisberger in Canada's Women's Post.