You may know Lauren Wiesberger for her book-turned-movie, The Devil Wears Prada starring Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt and a score of talented actors and actresses. I’ve to confess: it’s definitely one of my favourite movies of all time.
So when I was at the library and spotted Everyone Worth Knowing, I was ecstatic. This would be my third book by Lauren, and I was thrilled to have something new to read.
Everyone Worth Knowing is about a 27 year-old New York banker named Bette Robinson who uncharacteristically quits her immensely demanding 80-hour-workweek job (which, to me, read more like a call centre job than anything else, complete with soul sucking-ness). While she majored in English at college, she really didn’t know where her life was headed… Until she landed a job at a posh up-and-coming PR firm, Kelly and Company.
Now, as an aside – I managed to pick up a book that just happened to have its main character discovering her talents at PR firm. I knew nothing about this book, didn’t even read the jacket cover, and just went with it because of the author.
So while we join Bette in her adventures of PRdom, I got to thinking about what my education was like in comparison to what Weisberger’s definition of PR was. While PR isn’t just about events, celebrities, photo ops, blind items on Page Six and gossip in general, it really gave me a couple thoughts to what publicity could do for an organization – be it good or bad.
You see, the main character, Bette, somehow gets tangled up in a “romance” with hotshot playboy Philip Weston. Despite copious amounts of (incorrect) gossip, this romance works to Bette’s advantage, giving her a career a positive push. She could literally do no wrong. Whether it was a picture of her and Philip Weston coming out of a club at 3am (which apparently is early in Manhattan) completely wasted, or if it was a more scandalous item, Bette’s boss would applaud these misinterpreted antics simply because it got the company’s name in print, reaching the “right” audiences.
Eventually, Bette tires of this lifestyle – partying until sunrise, working straight through the day, operating on very little sleep, and ditching her pantsuits for more ‘fashionable’ clothes. Is this a true representation of the PR world? I think not!
All in all, it was a fun, light read. Weisberger’s view of the PR world (it was pretty specific to event PR) gave me some insight into the power of a well maintained contact list of clients, media and other names, and I also learned a bit about throwing events.
So if you enjoyed The Devil Wears Prada, I’d highly recommend this book. Just keep an open mind about the world of PR.
