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emsterino19's review against another edition
4.0
When I picked up this book, I had a preconceived picture of mafia-esque Saudi Arabian men being driven around LA doing God-knows-what. I couldn't have been further from the truth.
This was a delightful, light read about a couple Saudi princesses and mostly about their servant girls. Some of the tales shocked me, others made me giggle.
I am glad it was written and definitely glad that I read it.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
This was a delightful, light read about a couple Saudi princesses and mostly about their servant girls. Some of the tales shocked me, others made me giggle.
I am glad it was written and definitely glad that I read it.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
maryrobinson's review against another edition
3.0
Boy what I don’t know about Saudi Royalty and excess – it was hard to believe the wealth and the way in which the money was used in this account by an out-of-work actress who moonlighted as a chauffeur. For seven weeks, the author was on call 24/7 driving members of a Royal Family wherever needed (sometimes just following a group of teenage girls as they enjoyed their freedom walking) and doing anything and everything else that was demanded. Somewhat shallow…but fascinating.
kmrose's review
3.0
Although the insight into a different culture was very interesting, I think the author's "poor me" attitude tainted the book for me. I'm not convinced that she really learned anything from her experiences.
smartgirlsread's review against another edition
4.0
Check out my review at SmartGirlsRead!
http://smartgirlsread.blogspot.com/2013/06/driving-saudis-by-jayne-amelia-larson.html
http://smartgirlsread.blogspot.com/2013/06/driving-saudis-by-jayne-amelia-larson.html
honniker's review
funny
informative
fast-paced
3.75
This is the story of a woman chauffer who drove members of the Saudi royal family around during a trip they took in LA a few years ago. It was an interesting look at the culture of the family and the way that they interacted with Jayne, the only female driver. This was a pretty quick read and Jayne gives a lot of background on how she got to the point of becoming a chauffer. She also does a good job of taking various episodes from her seven week job and weaving them into an overarching story, that of a woman trying to make ends meet. I recommend.
abookishaffair's review
3.0
Like a lot of people in L.A., Jayne wants to become an actress. We all know this isn't easy and so she is forced to take on another job. She becomes a chauffeur. One day, she's charged with becoming one of the chaffeurs for the Saudi royal family when they come to visit. This is a memoir about a single event in the author's life. It is fascinating from the aspect that the Saudi royal family is huge and secretive and therefore not a lot of people do not know a whole lot about the family.
I thought this book was interesting from the perspective of culture and cultural relations. The United States relations with Saudi Arabia have been fraught with both periods of friendship and complications. I enjoyed reading about the Saudi people. At times, I kind of felt like the narrator was almost looking down on the Saudis. I think that's an easy trap to fall into when dealing with a culture that you are not familiar with, which the author definitely was not familiar with the culture before this job. Sometimes you have to make an effort to understand instead of trying to overstand. This just rubbed me the wrong way in this book.
I enjoyed reading about some of the things that the author had to do in order to make sure that the Saudi royal family was kept happy and content. One of the things that was most apparent was that aside from spending loads and loads of money, a lot of the members of the royal family seemed just like people that you may come across in your life. There were bossy teenagers and teenagers that just wanted to fit in. There were absent parents and caring parents. When you look it it that way, we are all way closer to each other than you think.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. Some parts were not my cup of tea but other parts were definitely a little funny.
I thought this book was interesting from the perspective of culture and cultural relations. The United States relations with Saudi Arabia have been fraught with both periods of friendship and complications. I enjoyed reading about the Saudi people. At times, I kind of felt like the narrator was almost looking down on the Saudis. I think that's an easy trap to fall into when dealing with a culture that you are not familiar with, which the author definitely was not familiar with the culture before this job. Sometimes you have to make an effort to understand instead of trying to overstand. This just rubbed me the wrong way in this book.
I enjoyed reading about some of the things that the author had to do in order to make sure that the Saudi royal family was kept happy and content. One of the things that was most apparent was that aside from spending loads and loads of money, a lot of the members of the royal family seemed just like people that you may come across in your life. There were bossy teenagers and teenagers that just wanted to fit in. There were absent parents and caring parents. When you look it it that way, we are all way closer to each other than you think.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. Some parts were not my cup of tea but other parts were definitely a little funny.
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