Friday, June 01, 2012

The Devil Wears Second-Hand Prada Knock-offs

When Lauren Weisberger wrote The Devil Wears Prada, the world was a different place. So different that I don't know that we'd recognize it anymore.

The author has penned a sequel to the blockbuster novel, but ten years later, is the devil wearing Prada or has the economy taken its toll? Does the devil pick up inexpensive Prada knock-offs from the street vendors in New York City?

There was something about the original novel that fit the times, with the economy booming. It was the era of "Sex and the City", buy buy buy and don't forget the shoes.

Too many of those who read the first installment don't have jobs now and they can't even begin to care about fashion trends or nasty bosses. They'd be happy for any sort of boss at all, handing them some sort of paycheck.

Times have changed, drastically. Even so, Simon & Schuster is taking a chance that the audience that made The Devil Wears Prada a hit will come back for a second round.

The publisher is betting that women readers are more in need of escape than ever, and they're willing to look back ten years to find some rest from modern-day worry over paying the bills.

And there's no mistaking Ms. Weisberger's sequel as anything but escape reading. There's nothing to be taken seriously when the narrative revolves around a bridal magazine editor planning her own wedding while dealing with her former devil of a boss.

Fans of the original roman a clef will be waiting for the lay-down. But this time around, they just might be waiting in front of the shelf of new fiction at the local public library, where the price of two week's worth of entertainment is available at no extra cost.

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