The Nanny Diaries [マスマーケット]

   マンハッタン、アッパー・イーストサイドの社交界で子どもを養育することを「のぞき見」できるこの珍妙な物語には、読み終わるまで読者を中毒症状に陥らせる魔力のような何かがある。共著者エマ・マクローリンとニコラ・クラウスの2人は元ベビーシッター（ナニー）。ストーリーは、パーク・アベニューの住人であるホコリ高きママ、「ミセスX」に「仕える」アルバイトという、迷路のようなわき道にはまりこんだ、ニューヨーク大学に通う21歳のヒロイン（その名もズバリ「ナン」）の冒険を追っていく。

   ナンがお守りする4歳の「グレイヤー（Grayer!）」（ちなみに彼の友だちの名前はジョセフィーナ、クリスタベル、フランフォード、ダーウィンだ…）はとてもいい子で、アイススケートとかフランス語、それに「マミーと私」グループ（「忙しい」母親たちはほとんど出席しないため、実質的には「ナニーと私」グループとなっている）など、とにかくアッパー・イーストサイドで有名なおけいこごとを、おとなしくかたっぱしからやらされている。

   なんといってもページをめくる手が止まらないのは、ミセスXが次にどんな無思慮な無理難題をナニーに言いつけるか（それから、ミセスXの隣人である、ちょっとキュートなハーバードの学生とナンとの恋の行方も…）が気になってしかたないからだ。そして読者は、2人の著者が自分たちの雇い主を思い出して大笑いしているシーンを、思い浮かべずにはいられない。（Claire Dederer, Amazon.co.uk） --このテキストは、 ペーパーバック 版に関連付けられています。

This satire, written by two former nannies, exposes the world of Manhattan's upper class, delving beneath the surface gloss to the superficialities beneath. Relationships, nerves and patience are tested as the limits of modern-day servitude are explored. --このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。

The Nanny Diaries is an absolutely addictive peek into the utterly weird world of child rearing in the upper reaches of Manhattan's social strata. Cowritten by two former nannies, Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, the novel follows the adventures of the aptly named Nan as she negotiates the Byzantine byways of working for Mrs. X, a Park Avenue mommy. Nan's 4-year-old charge, the hilariously named Grayer (his pals include Josephina, Christabelle, Brandford, and Darwin) is a genuinely good sort. He can't help it if his mom has scheduled him for every activity known to the Upper East Side, including ice skating, French lessons, and a Mommy and Me group largely attended by nannies. What makes the book so impossible to put down is the suspense of finding out what the unbelievably inconsiderate Mrs. X will demand of Nan next. One pictures the two authors having the last hearty laugh on their former employers. --Claire Dederer
--このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。

The Nanny Diaries is an absolutely addictive peek into the utterly weird world of child-rearing in the upper reaches of Manhattan's social strata. Cowritten by two former nannies, Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, the novel follows the adventures of the aptly named Nan as she negotiates the Byzantine byways of working for Mrs X, a Park Avenue mommy. Nan's four-year-old charge, the hilariously named Grayer (his pals include Josephina, Christabelle, Brandford, and Darwin) is a genuinely good sort. He can't help it if his mother has scheduled him for every activity known to the Upper East Side, including ice-skating, French lessons, and a Mommy and Me group largely attended by nannies. What makes the book so impossible to put down is the suspense of finding out what the unbelievably inconsiderate Mrs X will demand of Nan next. One pictures the two authors having the last hearty laugh on their former employers. --Claire Dederer --このテキストは、 ペーパーバック 版に関連付けられています。

Two former Manhattan nannies blow the lid off of the private child-care industry with a hilarious debut that pulls no punches as it recounts the travails of Nan, a hip Mary Poppins looking for a job to fit around her child-development classes at NYU. Mrs. X seems reasonable enough when she hires Nan to look after her four-year-old son, Grayer, but she quickly reveals herself to be a monster a bundle of neuroses wrapped up in Prada, whose son is little more than another status symbol in a fabulous Park Avenue apartment. Mr. X is just as horrible, although he's rarely seen or heard, too busy navigating mergers and mistresses to make time for a family starving for his affection. Nan finds herself stuck in a low-paying job from which she can be fired on a whim, enduring a steady stream of condescension, indifference and passive-aggressive notes on Mrs. X's posh stationery. Against the advice of family and friends, she stays because of her devotion to Grayer but how long will it be before she explodes? The pages fairly crackle with class resentment that might have been more convincing if Nanny's own family weren't as comfortable, and the finale delivers more whimper than bang, but it's easy to forgive such flaws when everything else rings true. Especially impressive is the authors' ability to allow the loathsome Mrs. X occasional flashes of humanity and pathos. Required reading for parents and the women they hire to do their parenting. National advertising and author publicity. (Mar.)Forecast: With Julia Roberts doing the Random Audio version, and film rights already sold to Miramax, the sky's the limit for this thoroughly appealing title.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。

Five CDs, 5 hrs. 15 min.
Read by Julia Roberts

Based on the real-life experiences, the inside story on the real lives of the rich and privileged from the women who know all the secrets - the nannies.

THE NANNY DIARIES deftly skewers the manner in which America's over-privileged raises les petites - as if grooming them for a Best of Show competition. A poignant satire, it punctures the glamor of Manhattan's upper class to tackle head-on the truer state of backstairs Park Avenue.

Struggling to graduate from NYU and afford her microscopic apartment, Nanny takes a job caring for the only son of the wealthy X family. She rapidly learns the insane amount of juggling involved in ensuring that a Park Avenue wife who doesn't work, cook, clean, or raise her own child has a smooth day.

When the X's marriage begins to disintegrate, Nanny's nearly impossible mission becomes maintaining the mental health of their four-year-old, her own integrity, and most importantly, her sense 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.

Praise for THE NANNY DIARIES:

"I thoroughly enjoyed [THE NANNY DIARIES]; could not put it down...reading it was an incredibly compelling voyeuristic thrill. Getting a glimpse behind the thick stone walls of those Park Avenue apartment buildings and into the excessively rich families who live in them (how much childcare help they have [a lot]; how badly they treat their help [badly, very badly]; how often these children see their actual parents [almost never]) is fascinating and, at the same time, impossibly funny." - Laura Zigman, author of Dating Big Bird and Animal Husbandry

Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus have eight combined years of experience as nannies to some of Manhattan's wealthiest families. They live in New York City. --このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。