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DOUBLEDAY, 2003
(available in paperback from Broadway, 2004)
LAUREN WEISBERGER, a former assistant to Vogue editor Anna Wintour, made her literary debut with this wry, comic novel about a recent Brown graduate, Andrea Sachs, who is determined to write for The New Yorker before her five-year college reunion. Andrea is lucky; she lands the job “a million girls would die for” as the assistant to Miranda Priestly, the successful, driven editor of Runway, a leading New York fashion magazine.
Andrea, whose “clothes, hair and attitude are all wrong,” hails from suburban Connecticut. She is a fish out of water in Runway’s slick fashion-magazine culture of “tall and impossibly thin” fashionistas. But she makes a yearlong commitment to the perpetually dissatisfied Priestly, knowing her boss’s recommendation will help her land her dream job. But the year will prove to be a long one.
Andrea’s Ivy League education hasn’t prepared her for her new tasks—picking up Miranda’s dry cleaning, wrapping her gifts, hiring nannies, tracking down advance copies of Harry Potter for her daughters, delivering hot lattes, and trying to decipher the vague instructions Miranda shouts over her cell phone, a device that ensures that Andrea “was always only seven digits away from Miranda.”
Andrea’s “fetching, sending, hunting, and gathering” ultimately takes its toll. She sacrifices her relationships with her boyfriend, her best friend, and her family on the altar of her career. She is miserable. Ultimately, Andrea must decide if the job that could be the pivotal stepping stone in her career is worth the price she is paying.
Food plays a significant role in Andrea’s unhappy existence at Runway. Her workday mornings are spent fetching multiple breakfasts, so a hot meal will await Miranda upon her unpredictable arrival. Though her world is filled with models starving themselves to remain thin, Miranda somehow maintains her trim figure despite regular breakfasts of bacon, sausage, and cheese-filled pastries.
Andrea also makes repeated trips to Starbucks so Miranda can have a piping-hot latte, no matter what time she arrives at her desk. Andrea gets a modicum of revenge by distributing caramel macchiatos and mocha Frappuccinos to New York’s homeless population—all on Runway’s tab—as she shuttles back and forth between her office and Starbucks.
Andrea’s first foray into the famed glass-and-granite Runway cafeteria reveals many gourmet specials—most untouched. Most of Runway’s weight-conscious employees head for the salad bar, which Andrea describes as “the size of an airport landing strip and accessible from four different directions.” Andrea becomes the sole patron at the “lone soup station,” the menu slashed to a single soup per day by Runway executives because of the chef’s refusal to concoct low-fat soups for the chronic dieters that make up Runway’s workforce. When Andrea selects a bowl of New England clam chowder, she meets the stares of “tall, willowy Runway blondes” and the questions of the cafeteria cashier, who asks, “Do you have any idea how many calories are in that?”
Among the many items that go untouched in the Runway cafeteria is the “sundried tomato and goat cheese pizza special (which resided on a small table banished to the sidelines that everyone referred to as ‘Carb Corner’).” Like Andrea, we would probably pass on the salad bar and the sushi table and head straight to Carb Corner. Our version of Sun-Dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Pizza may not have you sashaying down a New York City runway, but it is guaranteed to satisfy even a robust hunger.
NOTE: Keep the goat cheese cold until ready to top the pizza, and it will crumble much more easily.
For the pizza dough 2¼ teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast 2 teaspoons sugar 1 cup warm water 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil Cornmeal and flour (for rolling out the dough) |
For the toppings 3 cloves garlic, minced ½ teaspoon salt 4 teaspoons minced fresh oregano or marjoram ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 large onion, thinly sliced 1½ cups oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, slivered 1 pound creamy goat cheese (see note) Salt and freshly ground black pepper |
To make the pizza dough: Dissolve the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar in ½ cup warm water. Set aside until the yeast is foamy, about 5 minutes.
Place the flour, salt, Parmesan, and remaining teaspoon sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse together until well blended. With the motor running, add the yeast mixture and olive oil. Very slowly pour in additional warm water, if needed, just until the dough forms a single ball that holds together (even a little too much water will produce dough that is too sticky). The dough should hold together when handled, but still be a bit sticky.
To mix the dough by hand, combine flour, salt, Parmesan, and remaining teaspoon sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the yeast mixture, olive oil, and warm water, as needed, until the dough holds together. Gradually mix, working out from the center. Add remaining water as needed.
Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead vigorously until smooth and stretchy, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a large oiled bowl and cover with a dampened kitchen towel. Allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Punch the dough down and allow it to sit an additional 15 minutes.
To make the pizza: Place a pizza stone or baking sheet in the oven and preheat to 500°F.
In a small bowl, gently mash together the minced garlic and salt. Add 2 teaspoons of the oregano or marjoram and stir in olive oil. Set aside.
Divide the dough into 4 equal parts and shape each into a disk. Place a disk of dough on a work surface that has been generously sprinkled with cornmeal. Dust a rolling pin with flour and roll the dough out into an 8- to 9-inch-diameter circle. Using your fingers, stretch the dough farther until it is very thin but not in danger of tearing. Pinch around the edge to produce a raised rim.
With an oven mitt or thick pot holder, remove the pizza stone or baking sheet from the oven and place on a heatproof surface. Sprinkle the stone or sheet with cornmeal and lay the prepared crust on top (either lift it gently or use a floured pizza paddle).
Brush the dough with the garlic mixture. Spread ¼ of the onions over the top, cover with ¼ of the sun-dried tomatoes, and dot with ¼ of the goat cheese. Sprinkle with remaining teaspoon of oregano or marjoram and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bake 5–7 minutes, until crust is golden and crisp and cheese is melted. Repeat process for remaining pizzas.
Yield: Four 9-inch pizzas, serves 12 as an appetizer
The Ed 2010 New York chapter’s book club, a group of young magazine staffers, meets over burgers and beer to discuss fiction and nonfiction related in some way to the magazine-publishing industry. “The Devil Wears Prada was the group’s best-attended meeting and provoked our liveliest discussion,” says Chandra Czape, “even though it was not universally liked by group members.” Because most group members are, like the protagonist, young female magazine editors, there was a lot of discussion about Andrea’s complaints about her boss being small-minded and pretentious. “Though in truth,” says Czape, compared to her villainous boss, Andrea “was just as pretentious, as evidenced by her obsession with designer labels and her keen ability to talk down to everyone from the building doorman to the limo driver.”
