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Cannie Shapiro #1
Good in Bed
Weiner's witty, original, fast-moving debut features a lovable heroine, a solid cast, snappy dialogue and a poignant take on life's priorities.
For twenty-eight years, things have been tripping along nicely for Cannie Shapiro. Sure, her mother has come charging out of the closet, and her father has long since dropped out of her world. But she loves her friends, her rat terrier, Nifkin, and her job as pop culture reporter for The Philadelphia Examiner. She's even made a tenuous peace with her plus-size body.
But the day she opens up a national women's magazine and sees the words "Loving a Larger Woman" above her ex-boyfriend's byline, Cannie is plunged into misery...and the most amazing year of her life. From Philadelphia to Hollywood and back home again, she charts a new course for herself: mourning her losses, facing her past, and figuring out who she is and who she can become.
For twenty-eight years, things have been tripping along nicely for Cannie Shapiro. Sure, her mother has come charging out of the closet, and her father has long since dropped out of her world. But she loves her friends, her rat terrier, Nifkin, and her job as pop culture reporter for The Philadelphia Examiner. She's even made a tenuous peace with her plus-size body.
But the day she opens up a national women's magazine and sees the words "Loving a Larger Woman" above her ex-boyfriend's byline, Cannie is plunged into misery...and the most amazing year of her life. From Philadelphia to Hollywood and back home again, she charts a new course for herself: mourning her losses, facing her past, and figuring out who she is and who she can become.
376 pages, Paperback
First published April 2, 2002
About the author
Jennifer Weiner
70 books23.5k followersJennifer Weiner is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of eighteen books, including Good in Bed, In Her Shoes, and, most recently, That Summer. A graduate of Princeton University, she lives with her family in Philadelphia. Visit her online at JenniferWeiner.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 6,638 reviews
January 3, 2008
Sometimes a person needs a light read. A fun read. A pick it up and put it down (finished in a day) read. This book is all of these things, but it also carries an important message in an accessible format. We meet many people in our lives and love many be eternal or fleeting. Regardless of the time that love is shared, or held on to, the depth, the intensity, the interwoven sense of purpose can vary. We may not always love the person that we love now. We may not always remain with the person that we love and yet we may love them forever.
I, personally, love many people. I love them in different ways. I love them to different depths. I'm the type that always loves. If I love you today, I will love you tomorrow. There is nothing that you can do to stop that love. I may not like you if you hurt other or myself, but love and like are not the same thing. Like can change; love remains. Needless to type, I do not throw the word Love around lightly.
I do not tell my husband that I love him every time that we part: in person, on the phone, into slumber land. I tell him that I love him when I am consciously aware of how present that love is, when I am embraced and caught up in it, when I am fully in that moment. This can occur when I see him act kindly in a moment when I may not, when I remember something that he has said that I may not have appreciated fully at the time, when I hear about another relationship, another partner, that purposely does something hurtful and realize that Jim is such a good person, when I remember past relationship, past hurts and know that he is kind. Sometimes this can happen simply because he squeaks when he laughs or because his dark lashes frame his clear blue eyes in a certain light. There is a depth to that love. Intensity. A texture. Love goes beyond people, for me anyway, and encompasses ideas. Sometimes, I have learned, that people are mere reflections (positive or negative) of the ideals that what frame them within. Sometimes they are not the people that we imagine them to be – fairly or unfairly.
This story reminds me that there are different kinds of love and that time and changes in relationship status do not diminish it. I loved some that came before JIM. I still love some that hurt me badly – badly, but this is a different kind of love than what I share with my incredible husband (who does leave balls of socks all over the house and wonders why the dogs eat them). I told him last night that there is nothing in the world that I would trade for him and there is nothing, nothing that could ever compare to him, but this incredible love does not remove the past loves (the past-current loves) and that is what I liked most about this book.
This book shares the story of a "larger woman" and her search for love from herself, from partners, from day-in-day-out-family, from her father (post painfully reminiscent of my own life), from her dog, and from society. She struggles, she shares humor and rage. She shares hope and she embraces – she embraces.
Memorable passage (and words to live by): "I will love myself, and my body, for what it can do-- because it is strong enough to lift, to walk, to ride a bicycle up a hill, to embrace the people that I love and hold them fully, and to nurture a new life. I will love myself because I am sturdy. Because I did not--will not--break." (p365)
I, personally, love many people. I love them in different ways. I love them to different depths. I'm the type that always loves. If I love you today, I will love you tomorrow. There is nothing that you can do to stop that love. I may not like you if you hurt other or myself, but love and like are not the same thing. Like can change; love remains. Needless to type, I do not throw the word Love around lightly.
I do not tell my husband that I love him every time that we part: in person, on the phone, into slumber land. I tell him that I love him when I am consciously aware of how present that love is, when I am embraced and caught up in it, when I am fully in that moment. This can occur when I see him act kindly in a moment when I may not, when I remember something that he has said that I may not have appreciated fully at the time, when I hear about another relationship, another partner, that purposely does something hurtful and realize that Jim is such a good person, when I remember past relationship, past hurts and know that he is kind. Sometimes this can happen simply because he squeaks when he laughs or because his dark lashes frame his clear blue eyes in a certain light. There is a depth to that love. Intensity. A texture. Love goes beyond people, for me anyway, and encompasses ideas. Sometimes, I have learned, that people are mere reflections (positive or negative) of the ideals that what frame them within. Sometimes they are not the people that we imagine them to be – fairly or unfairly.
This story reminds me that there are different kinds of love and that time and changes in relationship status do not diminish it. I loved some that came before JIM. I still love some that hurt me badly – badly, but this is a different kind of love than what I share with my incredible husband (who does leave balls of socks all over the house and wonders why the dogs eat them). I told him last night that there is nothing in the world that I would trade for him and there is nothing, nothing that could ever compare to him, but this incredible love does not remove the past loves (the past-current loves) and that is what I liked most about this book.
This book shares the story of a "larger woman" and her search for love from herself, from partners, from day-in-day-out-family, from her father (post painfully reminiscent of my own life), from her dog, and from society. She struggles, she shares humor and rage. She shares hope and she embraces – she embraces.
Memorable passage (and words to live by): "I will love myself, and my body, for what it can do-- because it is strong enough to lift, to walk, to ride a bicycle up a hill, to embrace the people that I love and hold them fully, and to nurture a new life. I will love myself because I am sturdy. Because I did not--will not--break." (p365)
September 8, 2020
Well, by reading some of the reviews below, I guess I am the only one that really did NOT like this book. I thought it was quite IRONIC That Violet loved the screenplay because the lead character didn't need to be rescued... unlike Cannie.
She seems so whiney and down on not only herself but everyone else. To me this was NOT an uplifting book, It was actually rather depressing and I only finished it because it was the book selected for my book club so i felt obligated to finish it. It was a chore to read.
I have another one Jennifer weiners books and now i am thinking " should I waste my time? Hopefully little earthquakes is better than this book.
I just didn't connect at all with Cannie. I felt she was flat and i really hated the scene where she ditched the guy in the restaurant when he said it wasn't a date. Come on she can't be friends with men only date them ? Put your feet on the ground and smell the coffee. What is the author trying to say here ? Pretty sad in my opinion.
I admit I am not a chic lit fan, but i thought: Well, I liked Stephanie Plum so maybe I have judged chic lit unfairly..? This book was not worth the time I spent on it. Waste of time.
Update: I had another book by this author & I gave it away! I am not going to waste my time reading it when there are so many other GOOD books out there. This author is NOT for me. She dummies down her writing, my thoughts are if you need your literature dummied down for you then do something else.
This author has been added to my : DO NOT READ list.
She seems so whiney and down on not only herself but everyone else. To me this was NOT an uplifting book, It was actually rather depressing and I only finished it because it was the book selected for my book club so i felt obligated to finish it. It was a chore to read.
I have another one Jennifer weiners books and now i am thinking " should I waste my time? Hopefully little earthquakes is better than this book.
I just didn't connect at all with Cannie. I felt she was flat and i really hated the scene where she ditched the guy in the restaurant when he said it wasn't a date. Come on she can't be friends with men only date them ? Put your feet on the ground and smell the coffee. What is the author trying to say here ? Pretty sad in my opinion.
I admit I am not a chic lit fan, but i thought: Well, I liked Stephanie Plum so maybe I have judged chic lit unfairly..? This book was not worth the time I spent on it. Waste of time.
Update: I had another book by this author & I gave it away! I am not going to waste my time reading it when there are so many other GOOD books out there. This author is NOT for me. She dummies down her writing, my thoughts are if you need your literature dummied down for you then do something else.
This author has been added to my : DO NOT READ list.
January 26, 2016
this book had a lot of things going on---none of it was interesting.
it starts off with this ross-and-rachel-"break" situation and a (semi) harsh column about dating a 'large' woman, and then it turns into a soap opera (i expected an evil twin to appear!) it was just bad. real bad.
also: she was a size 16 at 5'10 with big boobs!! lord. really. cry me a river.
it starts off with this ross-and-rachel-"break" situation and a (semi) harsh column about dating a 'large' woman, and then it turns into a soap opera (i expected an evil twin to appear!) it was just bad. real bad.
also: she was a size 16 at 5'10 with big boobs!! lord. really. cry me a river.
January 24, 2015
At one point in my life I felt gung-ho to read the work of the woman who bravely stood up to Jonathan Franzen's derision. Then I read this book. Then I read a little bit more about Jennifer Weiner's various online and in-print literary spats.
With the disclaimer that one book is in no way representative of a writer's oeuvre -- particularly not the first book of a roughly 15 year publishing career -- I think Good in Bed is an easy target for criticism. It may not be fair to criticize a single book with lady legs on the cover as full representative of "women's fiction," no , but can we be honest? Cannie's life is a romantic fantasy. There's nothing wrong with that if that's your thing, but it IS fair for other writers to call it what it is. And to criticize or personally dislike that thing that it is, too.
Here's the plot, with SPOILERS that I don't feel like blocking out, you've been warned: Not so svelte reporter Cannie Shapiro's mourning the end of her relationship with a blonde Yanni-lookalike, whom she dumped and is upset with for not taking her back once she realizes she loved him anyway (even though he's a pot-smoking slug) after post-breakup pity sex. He somehow becomes a love columnist for a major magazine, even though he always seems to be wearing sweatpants in public, and writes about their relationship, including what it was like to "love a larger woman." This throws Cannie into a tailspin about her weight, she enrolls in a dieting study at the University of Philadelphia led by a cute prematurely gray doctor. Yanni gets a new girlfriend. Cannie writes a screenplay, meets a major Hollywood starlet who helps her sell her screenplay, then finds out she's pregnant with Yanni's no-love child. She drops out of the study, cute doctor knows she's pregnant and pursues her anyway, she chooses to have the baby even though Yanni still doesn't acknowledge her after she tells him she's with child and keeping it. She becomes a single mother prematurely after Yanni's new girlfriend (accidentally??!!!) pushes her and she falls while seven months along (!!!???) and the Hollywood starlet BUYS AND FURNISHES HER AN APARTMENT and cute doctor totally proposes to her at the end, because he's fallen in love with how Cannie reminds him of his deceased sister (!!!???). She also loses weight recuperating from the traumatic labor.
I was on board with the book until the screenplay. That's where things got wacky. For one thing, chubby girls can eat-pray-and-love our way through the end of a relationship but 99.9% of us aren't going to befriend Jennifer Lawrence and marry a cute doctor by the end of our journey. If our ex-boyfriend impregnates us, he may ignore us whether we decide to go through with the pregnancy or or not, and most likely none of us are going to have someone buy us an apartment to help us with the financial burden of being a single parent. And I would HOPE many of us eventually realize that, Yanni in sweatpants or not, no one is obligated to still love us and want a relationship with us after we have broken up with them.
The point is, Good in Bed raised some interesting conflicts and resolved them in completely ridiculous, divorced from reality, wish fulfillment ways. The criticism that I would make of this book is that such resolution of problems is lazy writing/problem solving, in terms of the real world as opposed to the world where authorial deus ex machina is possible. I would have to read more of Weiner's work to make a statement about her work as a whole, but at the conclusion of my first Jennifer Weiner experience I'm left feeling irritated at the idea that criticism of work such as Good in Bed is construed as sexist action when really, the book is either composed of lazy writing or is such fantasy that it becomes so unlike a story that would really happen and thus, is not to some people's liking. And by some people, I do mean me. Blech.
With the disclaimer that one book is in no way representative of a writer's oeuvre -- particularly not the first book of a roughly 15 year publishing career -- I think Good in Bed is an easy target for criticism. It may not be fair to criticize a single book with lady legs on the cover as full representative of "women's fiction," no , but can we be honest? Cannie's life is a romantic fantasy. There's nothing wrong with that if that's your thing, but it IS fair for other writers to call it what it is. And to criticize or personally dislike that thing that it is, too.
Here's the plot, with SPOILERS that I don't feel like blocking out, you've been warned: Not so svelte reporter Cannie Shapiro's mourning the end of her relationship with a blonde Yanni-lookalike, whom she dumped and is upset with for not taking her back once she realizes she loved him anyway (even though he's a pot-smoking slug) after post-breakup pity sex. He somehow becomes a love columnist for a major magazine, even though he always seems to be wearing sweatpants in public, and writes about their relationship, including what it was like to "love a larger woman." This throws Cannie into a tailspin about her weight, she enrolls in a dieting study at the University of Philadelphia led by a cute prematurely gray doctor. Yanni gets a new girlfriend. Cannie writes a screenplay, meets a major Hollywood starlet who helps her sell her screenplay, then finds out she's pregnant with Yanni's no-love child. She drops out of the study, cute doctor knows she's pregnant and pursues her anyway, she chooses to have the baby even though Yanni still doesn't acknowledge her after she tells him she's with child and keeping it. She becomes a single mother prematurely after Yanni's new girlfriend (accidentally??!!!) pushes her and she falls while seven months along (!!!???) and the Hollywood starlet BUYS AND FURNISHES HER AN APARTMENT and cute doctor totally proposes to her at the end, because he's fallen in love with how Cannie reminds him of his deceased sister (!!!???). She also loses weight recuperating from the traumatic labor.
I was on board with the book until the screenplay. That's where things got wacky. For one thing, chubby girls can eat-pray-and-love our way through the end of a relationship but 99.9% of us aren't going to befriend Jennifer Lawrence and marry a cute doctor by the end of our journey. If our ex-boyfriend impregnates us, he may ignore us whether we decide to go through with the pregnancy or or not, and most likely none of us are going to have someone buy us an apartment to help us with the financial burden of being a single parent. And I would HOPE many of us eventually realize that, Yanni in sweatpants or not, no one is obligated to still love us and want a relationship with us after we have broken up with them.
The point is, Good in Bed raised some interesting conflicts and resolved them in completely ridiculous, divorced from reality, wish fulfillment ways. The criticism that I would make of this book is that such resolution of problems is lazy writing/problem solving, in terms of the real world as opposed to the world where authorial deus ex machina is possible. I would have to read more of Weiner's work to make a statement about her work as a whole, but at the conclusion of my first Jennifer Weiner experience I'm left feeling irritated at the idea that criticism of work such as Good in Bed is construed as sexist action when really, the book is either composed of lazy writing or is such fantasy that it becomes so unlike a story that would really happen and thus, is not to some people's liking. And by some people, I do mean me. Blech.
February 13, 2009
The third worst book I have ever read. I just cannot stand main characters who portray themselves as perpetually victimized, while refusing to take any responsibility for removing themselves from the victim-state. It didn't help that I felt the author intentionally 'crafted' her characters to be as pathetic as possible, then framed the story in such a way as to imply the reader has no right to condemn any of them for their decisions. Insultingly bad, even for a genre (I refuse to call this anything but 'chicklit') that has set the bar pretty low.
January 11, 2008
This was an interesting book; I read it for an on-line book group. I did like reading it, but at the same time, it's definitely not one I would recommend or would be on any "must read" list I would write.
The thing I think Jennifer Weiner did well was writing in a way that I did get sucked into Cannie's life and her pain. I think anyone who's had a lost love can really relate to that kind of misery, and I think she did a great job describing it. So much so, that my mood was somewhat muted days after reading it. You do just kind of want to grab her and shake her, and say, "Give it up!" But, at the same time, it's true to life in my experience. When you are that upset over someone, you don't really act in a level-headed way.
However, there were plenty of blatant flaws with the story, in my opinion. It was just "too good to be true" too many times for my gag reflex. In a way, that's what's great about fiction . . . anything can happen.
*spoiler*
At the same time, it's nice to have things be somewhat realistic, and I don't think the instant celebrity best friend, screenplay hitting big, and swiping the x's job are in line with that! I expecially didn't like how she ended up having her baby by being pushed by the new girlfriend . . . seemed so Jerry Springer. I even thought that was rather unrealistic. Made me roll my eyes a little. But, I did like the ending. Dr. K. is a great character.
Overall, it did keep my interest, mostly, and I'm not sorry I read it. But, I know I won't be seeking out her other books.
The thing I think Jennifer Weiner did well was writing in a way that I did get sucked into Cannie's life and her pain. I think anyone who's had a lost love can really relate to that kind of misery, and I think she did a great job describing it. So much so, that my mood was somewhat muted days after reading it. You do just kind of want to grab her and shake her, and say, "Give it up!" But, at the same time, it's true to life in my experience. When you are that upset over someone, you don't really act in a level-headed way.
However, there were plenty of blatant flaws with the story, in my opinion. It was just "too good to be true" too many times for my gag reflex. In a way, that's what's great about fiction . . . anything can happen.
*spoiler*
At the same time, it's nice to have things be somewhat realistic, and I don't think the instant celebrity best friend, screenplay hitting big, and swiping the x's job are in line with that! I expecially didn't like how she ended up having her baby by being pushed by the new girlfriend . . . seemed so Jerry Springer. I even thought that was rather unrealistic. Made me roll my eyes a little. But, I did like the ending. Dr. K. is a great character.
Overall, it did keep my interest, mostly, and I'm not sorry I read it. But, I know I won't be seeking out her other books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 12, 2007
This was so good that when it ended I felt like I had lost a friend. I got so attached to Canny, that I just wanted to call her and chat with her about her life. I would read this book again and again...in fact, I have.
June 18, 2008
This book made me second guess my judgmental stance on "chick lit." It's a genre I usually avoid, mostly because I tend to be a pretentious asshole. But I really, really enjoyed this book. Weiner is smart, witty, and insightful. I laughed outloud. Much to my surprise, I couldn't put this one down.
February 18, 2008
Blah. What is up with these 20-something books? The I-don't-like-my-job, I-can't-find-a-mate, I'm-almost-30 angst books? They are all written in the EXACT same voice, and even hit the same highlights (in both this book and Girls are Weird, a father's funeral results in a hook up with an ex--I guess I really dodged a bullet there).
In the interview after the book, the author seems very proud of herself that she wrote an anti-fairy tale, meaning the protagonist does not end the book skinny (this is a book about a woman obsessed with the fact she's fat). Umm...okay. But the protagonist does (1) sell her screenplay, (2) become close friends with a movie star, and (3) have a handsome doctor fall in love with her (his specialty is bariatrics but he likes fat chicks! plot twist!). How is that not a fantasy?
This is a quick read that is sometimes amusing, but there's really no there, there. The blurb on the front cover from the New York Times really says it all: "This season's beach-book Queen for a Day." As in read and quickly forgotten. How is that a selling point for a book?
In the interview after the book, the author seems very proud of herself that she wrote an anti-fairy tale, meaning the protagonist does not end the book skinny (this is a book about a woman obsessed with the fact she's fat). Umm...okay. But the protagonist does (1) sell her screenplay, (2) become close friends with a movie star, and (3) have a handsome doctor fall in love with her (his specialty is bariatrics but he likes fat chicks! plot twist!). How is that not a fantasy?
This is a quick read that is sometimes amusing, but there's really no there, there. The blurb on the front cover from the New York Times really says it all: "This season's beach-book Queen for a Day." As in read and quickly forgotten. How is that a selling point for a book?
February 9, 2009
My first grader can sound out words and takes great interest in what I'm reading. He didn't understand the title of the book, so I told him that it was about someone who sleeps all night and never gets up to get in their parents' bed.
My husband wanted to know if it was fiction. He was hoping not.
I liked this book because I liked the character and cared about her. She's likable and funny and she means well. My major criticism about this book, however, is that the unrealistic twists and turns rival those of a Great Adventure roller coaster. I think that if I took a big red pen to this book I'd remove the parts that have anything to do with Hollywood. Even the manuscript sale seemed over the top to me. I'd change "the push" to something that didn't involve another person, like a slip in a puddle after an argument with your ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend. I'd leave the family dysfunction - I thought her passages about her father were touching and honest.
All that said, though, I liked it enough that I'll probably read "In Her Shoes," which I believe is the sequel to this.
My husband wanted to know if it was fiction. He was hoping not.
I liked this book because I liked the character and cared about her. She's likable and funny and she means well. My major criticism about this book, however, is that the unrealistic twists and turns rival those of a Great Adventure roller coaster. I think that if I took a big red pen to this book I'd remove the parts that have anything to do with Hollywood. Even the manuscript sale seemed over the top to me. I'd change "the push" to something that didn't involve another person, like a slip in a puddle after an argument with your ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend. I'd leave the family dysfunction - I thought her passages about her father were touching and honest.
All that said, though, I liked it enough that I'll probably read "In Her Shoes," which I believe is the sequel to this.
September 5, 2016
Twenty eight year old Cannie Shapiro had just taken a break in her relationship with her boyfriend when he was heading towards wanting marriage and she wasn't quite sure what she wanted. But when she sees the headline in a magazine Loving a Larger Woman she is immediately furious when she sees her ex's name in the byline.
Now Cannie is trying to get her life in order and her weight under control. She always knew she was plus size but the humiliation of seeing it in a national magazine has her questioning everything in her life along with her relationship with her ex.
Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner was somewhat an emotional roller coaster of a read. It was often quite humorous but also rather touching in moments when Cannie is dealing with different areas of her life. There's romance mixed with grief. Anxiety mixed with humor. Indecision, heartache, grief, loss, emotional growth and joy. Pretty much any type of emotion a reader could think of wrapped into this one.
I will say I wasn't a huge fan of Cannie wanting to hold onto her relationship after she'd initially broken things off but as the read went on I grew to understand her fears and thoughts along the way so the story drew me in as she went through her life after her public humiliation.
Overall, an emotional roller coaster of a ride with the main character while dealing with being a plus sized woman in a society obsessed with weight.
I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.wordpress....
Now Cannie is trying to get her life in order and her weight under control. She always knew she was plus size but the humiliation of seeing it in a national magazine has her questioning everything in her life along with her relationship with her ex.
Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner was somewhat an emotional roller coaster of a read. It was often quite humorous but also rather touching in moments when Cannie is dealing with different areas of her life. There's romance mixed with grief. Anxiety mixed with humor. Indecision, heartache, grief, loss, emotional growth and joy. Pretty much any type of emotion a reader could think of wrapped into this one.
I will say I wasn't a huge fan of Cannie wanting to hold onto her relationship after she'd initially broken things off but as the read went on I grew to understand her fears and thoughts along the way so the story drew me in as she went through her life after her public humiliation.
Overall, an emotional roller coaster of a ride with the main character while dealing with being a plus sized woman in a society obsessed with weight.
I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.wordpress....
August 3, 2021
Толстая женщина встречается с мудаком, но отчего-то думает, что проблема именно в том, что она толстая.
February 6, 2018
Some days, all I want is good chick-lit. I want no-brainer fluff with a good heroine and a hero who isn't an asshole. While there is ample chick-lit in the market, there isn't too much in the category I prefer. What I wanted was a cotton-candy romance with teasing and banter, great sex, some misunderstandings, leading to an overall happy ending. What I got instead, was Good in Bed. It was definitely not something I was in the mood for, at the moment, so perhaps, that could be the cause of my bad rating. That said, even if I had read the book without these expectations, I'm sure I wouldn't have given it more than 2 stars.
Good in Bed sells itself as chick lit. However, it falls into a category that is neither quite chick-lit, nor women's fiction. It tries to be women's fiction while masquerading as chick-lit, and as a result, fails both categories. In simple words, Good in Bed tries too hard to do too much. I mean, it's only a 400-page book, for god's sake. There's only so much you can cover in those many pages. On that point, I also think that 400 is a lot of pages for chick lit. I mean, a few good ones have been so long, but they were fast-paced and had enough foreplay and/or sex to keep me entertained. This book on the other hand was more a commentary on...exactly what I'm not clear about, but on something. On acceptance, perhaps. Or it was supposed to be.
Cannie Shapiro is a big woman; she's 5'10" and a size 16, which in my opinion isn't fat, just big. And for a book that is supposed to normalise plus-size romance, Cannie spends like 65% of the book whining about being fat. It does have other chick-lit aspects to it, however, like making a celebrity best friend, publishing a movie script, and having a hot (Jewish) doctor fall in love with you. But, the soap-opera elements, which involve a lesbian mother, an absent father, slightly crazy siblings, a weird ex and his equally weird girlfriend, an evil co-worker, and a job she doesn't exactly like, are far more dramatic and overpowering. I don't really like Cannie much. She is self-deprecating and rather mean and judgmental in general. You realise you're really not going to like the book when you start agreeing with the protagonist's weird ex.
Bruce Guberman is a pot-smoking, laid-back loser who doesn't really want much from life. He writes a rather nasty column about his relationship with Cannie, which he concludes by saying that she was difficult to love because she was not very accepting of herself. I initially thought it was a load of tosh, but on reading more and more of Cannie's thoughts and opinions, I came to realise that it was true. It really doesn't help that this ex of hers makes more of an appearance than the actual love interest, Peter Krushelevansky, or as I like to call him, Peter Whatshisname. Peter is...nice. He's smart, good-looking and sensible. If only he had more time and space in this book! Insipid, irritating Bruce gets all the attention, though. I mean, he can't stay with Cannie, he can't get over her, it's a damn mess.
This book has too many things going on in it to keep me interested, and no element of the story is given enough attention. The absent father randomly pops up out of nowhere, only to disappear again. The celebrity friend comes in only when Cannie needs help. Don't even get me started on Cannie's post-partum depression, which, by the way is neither properly diagnosed nor treated. Just, nothing was enough to keep me interested. All I wanted was a good romance, and while this book is a lot of things, it definitely isn't a good romance.
Good in Bed sells itself as chick lit. However, it falls into a category that is neither quite chick-lit, nor women's fiction. It tries to be women's fiction while masquerading as chick-lit, and as a result, fails both categories. In simple words, Good in Bed tries too hard to do too much. I mean, it's only a 400-page book, for god's sake. There's only so much you can cover in those many pages. On that point, I also think that 400 is a lot of pages for chick lit. I mean, a few good ones have been so long, but they were fast-paced and had enough foreplay and/or sex to keep me entertained. This book on the other hand was more a commentary on...exactly what I'm not clear about, but on something. On acceptance, perhaps. Or it was supposed to be.
Cannie Shapiro is a big woman; she's 5'10" and a size 16, which in my opinion isn't fat, just big. And for a book that is supposed to normalise plus-size romance, Cannie spends like 65% of the book whining about being fat. It does have other chick-lit aspects to it, however, like making a celebrity best friend, publishing a movie script, and having a hot (Jewish) doctor fall in love with you. But, the soap-opera elements, which involve a lesbian mother, an absent father, slightly crazy siblings, a weird ex and his equally weird girlfriend, an evil co-worker, and a job she doesn't exactly like, are far more dramatic and overpowering. I don't really like Cannie much. She is self-deprecating and rather mean and judgmental in general. You realise you're really not going to like the book when you start agreeing with the protagonist's weird ex.
Bruce Guberman is a pot-smoking, laid-back loser who doesn't really want much from life. He writes a rather nasty column about his relationship with Cannie, which he concludes by saying that she was difficult to love because she was not very accepting of herself. I initially thought it was a load of tosh, but on reading more and more of Cannie's thoughts and opinions, I came to realise that it was true. It really doesn't help that this ex of hers makes more of an appearance than the actual love interest, Peter Krushelevansky, or as I like to call him, Peter Whatshisname. Peter is...nice. He's smart, good-looking and sensible. If only he had more time and space in this book! Insipid, irritating Bruce gets all the attention, though. I mean, he can't stay with Cannie, he can't get over her, it's a damn mess.
This book has too many things going on in it to keep me interested, and no element of the story is given enough attention. The absent father randomly pops up out of nowhere, only to disappear again. The celebrity friend comes in only when Cannie needs help. Don't even get me started on Cannie's post-partum depression, which, by the way is neither properly diagnosed nor treated. Just, nothing was enough to keep me interested. All I wanted was a good romance, and while this book is a lot of things, it definitely isn't a good romance.
June 3, 2019
I was having a bit of reading ennui after finishing Gone with the Wind, but found this in my Audible library leftover from some BOGO sale I'm sure. This is from the 21st century but the characters write each other real letters to share important news (like in the mail!) and use their "portable phones" to call experts for advice. So yeah, a bit dated, but an early attempt to have a non thin character create her own life.
Warnings for Daddy issues and difficult pregnancies.
Warnings for Daddy issues and difficult pregnancies.
October 20, 2007
I am rating this as an OK, based only on the fact that the plot was intricate and well thought out. The book itself was very well written and easy to follow. However, it will not go on my list of favorite books. Basically it was about a plus sized 28 yr old woman, Cannie Shapiro (she was decribed as a size 16, I thought that plus didn't start until size 18, but what do I know??) She was a reporter, had friends, an apartment, a dog, etc. She had recently asked her boyfriend of 3 years for a break from their relationship due to certain incompatabilites, such as; she worked, he perpetually went to college and smoked pot. She earned her own way, he was a spoiled baby still taken care of by his parents, and so on. During their break, he got a job writing a column called "Good in Bed" for a national magazine. His first article was about her and entitled "Loving a Larger Woman." Basically the first half of the book she spent mad at him about the article, then pinning over him trying to get him back, then crying and whinning that she was fat and no one would ever love her. I just felt like slapping her and saying "Build a bridge and get over it." (BTW, that's my daughter's line) I mean, I am no skinny person, but I have never moped and whined about it like this character did. Maybe I just can't relate to someone who has felt that much self loathing and with that little self esteem, but regardless, the main character annoyed the crap out of me. About halfway through, the story line picked up a little. She did some other things while pinning and whining and crying. She changes a lot by the end...if you can stand her through the first 3/4 of the book, then you might like how she turns out in the end.
January 8, 2018
I'm kind of all over the place with this book. I definitely had a love/hate relationship.
Maybe it has to deal with the MC Cannie Shapiro or maybe it's how it was written...
Cannie just got out of a relationship with her boyfriend. He wanted a marriage and she didn't want that? maybe? Then there's the whole weight thing - which I don't care what the MC looks like how much she weighs. It's a character people! However, Cannie doesn't like she sees her ex-boyfriends name on a magazine called Loving a Larger Woman. Cue the eye roll guys.
I think that and the whole holding onto her past relationship was just kind of rubbing me the wrong way. Oh and the whole whining too.
Other than that, I liked the overall story (in a way) and I was really happy when I finished the book. Good in Bed has been on my TBR for over two years and it needed to get off my list. I'm glad I read it but I have no idea if I will continue the series.
Maybe it has to deal with the MC Cannie Shapiro or maybe it's how it was written...
Cannie just got out of a relationship with her boyfriend. He wanted a marriage and she didn't want that? maybe? Then there's the whole weight thing - which I don't care what the MC looks like how much she weighs. It's a character people! However, Cannie doesn't like she sees her ex-boyfriends name on a magazine called Loving a Larger Woman. Cue the eye roll guys.
I think that and the whole holding onto her past relationship was just kind of rubbing me the wrong way. Oh and the whole whining too.
Other than that, I liked the overall story (in a way) and I was really happy when I finished the book. Good in Bed has been on my TBR for over two years and it needed to get off my list. I'm glad I read it but I have no idea if I will continue the series.
February 12, 2019
Серйозно - чудова книга! Не пуста зовсім, як може хибно здатися з анотації і обкладинки. Можливо, у головній героїні десь кожен впізнає себе. Бо хіба хтось з нас позбавлений сумнівів, болю та трав��? Це історія жінки, яка не зважаючи на випробування та нещастя вирішила відштовхнутися від дна і жити далі.
Повний відгук буде згодом в інста
Повний відгук буде згодом в інста
December 4, 2008
I am haunted by this book. There is a scene in it that I think about all the time. I don't know if the writing was that good or if something about it just resonated with me - Either way I seriously think about it alot. Has it really been almost 6 years since I read this?
March 19, 2012
I have to be honest and say that this book is not my cup-of-tea. So, consider that when you see the one star rating. I don't like reading a book with what feels like a lump in my throat the whole time. I like a release from the pressure at least every once in awhile. I didn't particularly like Cannie and yet I disliked what happened to her. I ended taking this book to work and putting it in the 'free if you want pile'. Someone I worked with picked it up, read it, and gave it a few more stars than I did; however, not a big 'must read' rating. Jennifer Weiner is a good writer; I just wanted something else. I'm a nurse and I get enough sadness in my life as it is. I have another book by her that I don't think I'll ever read.
November 21, 2016
Pretty good for chick lit. The situations were often (but not always) unrealistic, but the character's emotions were genuine, which helped to make the heroine likable and impressive. The second half of the book was pretty strong and I devoured it quickly.
I liked that Cannie's weight loss obsession took a backseat when other more important issues were happening in her life. I was glad that the book wasn't just a huge diatribe of weight loss woes. Overall worth a read.
Buy, Borrow or Bin Verdict: Borrow
Check out more of my reviews here
Note: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
April 5, 2015
Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner is a total beach read. It’s got a sassy protagonist Cannie, her tell all ex-boyfriend, her hot lawyer bestie, her newly lesbian mom, her underhanded co-worker, and so on. The writing is sharp and funny and the characters drawn with broad easy strokes. Philadelphia (one of my favourite cities) is painted deliciously, and the woes of the larger woman are something I am most sympathetic to. The world is not nice to fat people of either gender, and it’s apparently still ok to make fun of them or expect them to be nice and funny in return.
I would have given this book a couple more stars if it had not been for the truly puzzling undercurrent of anti-lesbianism that runs through the entire thing. Cannie’s mother has what looks like a terrible marriage to a man (who is by all accounts a shitty father too), and after struggling through a divorce and single-motherhood, she finds love and happiness in the arms of “the Dread Lesbian Tanya.” I. kid. you. not.
This book is set in the late 90s or early 2000s, but it feels like those parts were written by a 12 year old in the 1980s, when it was acceptable to talk about homosexuality but homosexuality wasn’t acceptable. For e.g. when someone tries to defend her mother’s choices, Cannie says, “But my point is you don’t really know any gay people. So how can you assume it’s such a terrific thing for my mom? That I should be happy about it?”
Just replace “gay” with any other term and it’s clear how prejudiced this character is. And it just keeps going on and on. And anyway, how do two people go to college in America in the 90s and not know any gay people? Like not even one between the two of them?
If Cannie had somehow come to terms with her mother’s “inappropriate life,” and apologised for the incessant homophobia, *maybe* I’d be ok with the book, but as it is, she didn’t (although Tanya ends up barely tolerated), and in the end, I kind of hated the book, the protagonist, and even the author. For as staunch a feminist as Ms. Weiner is, and someone who stands up for women in literature, I am really surprised and baffled by this undercutting. It just doesn’t make sense.
The other irritating part of the book was a completely unbelievable friendship with a major movie star who gets Cannie’s script made into a movie. As a writer, I have a knee jerk reaction against these easy windfalls. I’d have liked a non-homophobic Cannie to win, for a fat girl to beat out the others, but this was too much for me. I enjoy the easy beach novel every so often, but I’m afraid I’ll be sticking to her essays from now where she isn’t so damningly discriminatory.
I would have given this book a couple more stars if it had not been for the truly puzzling undercurrent of anti-lesbianism that runs through the entire thing. Cannie’s mother has what looks like a terrible marriage to a man (who is by all accounts a shitty father too), and after struggling through a divorce and single-motherhood, she finds love and happiness in the arms of “the Dread Lesbian Tanya.” I. kid. you. not.
This book is set in the late 90s or early 2000s, but it feels like those parts were written by a 12 year old in the 1980s, when it was acceptable to talk about homosexuality but homosexuality wasn’t acceptable. For e.g. when someone tries to defend her mother’s choices, Cannie says, “But my point is you don’t really know any gay people. So how can you assume it’s such a terrific thing for my mom? That I should be happy about it?”
Just replace “gay” with any other term and it’s clear how prejudiced this character is. And it just keeps going on and on. And anyway, how do two people go to college in America in the 90s and not know any gay people? Like not even one between the two of them?
If Cannie had somehow come to terms with her mother’s “inappropriate life,” and apologised for the incessant homophobia, *maybe* I’d be ok with the book, but as it is, she didn’t (although Tanya ends up barely tolerated), and in the end, I kind of hated the book, the protagonist, and even the author. For as staunch a feminist as Ms. Weiner is, and someone who stands up for women in literature, I am really surprised and baffled by this undercutting. It just doesn’t make sense.
The other irritating part of the book was a completely unbelievable friendship with a major movie star who gets Cannie’s script made into a movie. As a writer, I have a knee jerk reaction against these easy windfalls. I’d have liked a non-homophobic Cannie to win, for a fat girl to beat out the others, but this was too much for me. I enjoy the easy beach novel every so often, but I’m afraid I’ll be sticking to her essays from now where she isn’t so damningly discriminatory.
November 9, 2021
This review can also be found at https://carolesrandomlife.com/
I am so glad that I finally got around to reading this book. I have had a copy for well over 10 years so it has been quite the wait. I must say that I really enjoyed it and cannot believe that it took me so long to finally read this author! I liked Cannie right away and could empathize with all the things that she goes through over the course of this story. I found this to be entertaining and funny at times but emotional at others.
Cannie has recently broken up with her boyfriend of 3 years, Bruce, when she learns that she is the subject of his new article. Bruce has written an article about loving a larger woman which becomes rather popular to Cannie’s horror. We get to see how Cannie’s weight has impacted her over the years including her current quest to lose weight in what she refers to as fat class. She starts to have second thoughts about her decision to break up with Bruce but she has a wonderful group of friends around her to support her as she works through everything.
I was somewhat surprised by just how many things happened to Cannie over the course of this story. It really was a bit of a roller coaster. I felt like she grew a lot as a character and I was happy that her support system stuck with her. I really loved the fact that even when the book was dealing with some really tough issues some humor would often pop up keeping everything from feeling too heavy.
I decided to listen to the unabridged audiobook and thought that Laura Hicks did an amazing job with this story. I think that it takes a special narrator to successfully deliver both the humor and the heartache that were a part of this story. I thought that she was able to bring this story to life and I loved the voices that she used for the various characters.
I would recommend this book to others. I found this to be a wonderful story that was rather hard to put down. I hope to check out more of Jennifer Weiner’s work in the future.
I received a digital review copy of this book from Atria Books via NetGalley and borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library.
Initial Thoughts
I have had this book on my tbr for ages and I am glad that I finally gave it a try. I liked Cannie quite a bit and there were a lot of things that I was able to relate to in the book. This book takes us on a journey with Cannie that I did not expect. I listened to a copy of the audiobook that I picked up from my local library and thought that the narrator did a fantastic job with this story. This is the first time that I have picked up any of Jennifer Weiner's books but I am now curious to check out some of her backlist.
I am so glad that I finally got around to reading this book. I have had a copy for well over 10 years so it has been quite the wait. I must say that I really enjoyed it and cannot believe that it took me so long to finally read this author! I liked Cannie right away and could empathize with all the things that she goes through over the course of this story. I found this to be entertaining and funny at times but emotional at others.
Cannie has recently broken up with her boyfriend of 3 years, Bruce, when she learns that she is the subject of his new article. Bruce has written an article about loving a larger woman which becomes rather popular to Cannie’s horror. We get to see how Cannie’s weight has impacted her over the years including her current quest to lose weight in what she refers to as fat class. She starts to have second thoughts about her decision to break up with Bruce but she has a wonderful group of friends around her to support her as she works through everything.
I was somewhat surprised by just how many things happened to Cannie over the course of this story. It really was a bit of a roller coaster. I felt like she grew a lot as a character and I was happy that her support system stuck with her. I really loved the fact that even when the book was dealing with some really tough issues some humor would often pop up keeping everything from feeling too heavy.
I decided to listen to the unabridged audiobook and thought that Laura Hicks did an amazing job with this story. I think that it takes a special narrator to successfully deliver both the humor and the heartache that were a part of this story. I thought that she was able to bring this story to life and I loved the voices that she used for the various characters.
I would recommend this book to others. I found this to be a wonderful story that was rather hard to put down. I hope to check out more of Jennifer Weiner’s work in the future.
I received a digital review copy of this book from Atria Books via NetGalley and borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library.
Initial Thoughts
I have had this book on my tbr for ages and I am glad that I finally gave it a try. I liked Cannie quite a bit and there were a lot of things that I was able to relate to in the book. This book takes us on a journey with Cannie that I did not expect. I listened to a copy of the audiobook that I picked up from my local library and thought that the narrator did a fantastic job with this story. This is the first time that I have picked up any of Jennifer Weiner's books but I am now curious to check out some of her backlist.
April 24, 2021
3.5 Stars
Good in Bed was better than expected. I didn't have high hopes for this book and the first 50 pages were a bit of a slog for me.
BUT!
I did end up enjoying this book. It was super dated but that's not a bad thing and it was written in that typical late 90's early 2000's chick lit way(I cant describe it but you know it when you see it).
I didn't like the main character Cannie which is why I'm giving Good in Bed 3.5 stars instead of 4. Cannie is SUPER immature. Shes supposed to be like 29 or 30 years old but she acts like a 14 year old.
I have book 2 Certain Girls and I'm planning on reading it despite the fact that I've heard it's not very good.
No rec.
Good in Bed was better than expected. I didn't have high hopes for this book and the first 50 pages were a bit of a slog for me.
BUT!
I did end up enjoying this book. It was super dated but that's not a bad thing and it was written in that typical late 90's early 2000's chick lit way(I cant describe it but you know it when you see it).
I didn't like the main character Cannie which is why I'm giving Good in Bed 3.5 stars instead of 4. Cannie is SUPER immature. Shes supposed to be like 29 or 30 years old but she acts like a 14 year old.
I have book 2 Certain Girls and I'm planning on reading it despite the fact that I've heard it's not very good.
No rec.
February 5, 2009
This book hurt my soul. I found that I couldn't put it down... It's not well written, completely mindless and the story is nonsense.
March 7, 2012
I picked up this book expecting a nice bit of easy reading chick lit but got so much more than that. The prose is flawless, and it reads at a 'serious novel' pace giving an analogous level of satisfaction, as opposed to the complacent, irrelevant, weakly written 'chick lit' reads that you get from lousy, second-rate authors looking to cash in on the chick lit genre. It is highly intelligent, with a successful heroine Cannie Shapiro, who is almost painfully believable at times. It is an intelligent, witty and thought-provoking read.
Warning: Do not attempt to read this book while travelling on public transport. A lot of people (mostly men) interrupted me to make jokes and comments about the title of the book and the author's surname.
Warning: Do not attempt to read this book while travelling on public transport. A lot of people (mostly men) interrupted me to make jokes and comments about the title of the book and the author's surname.
March 1, 2021
3.5 Stars for Good In Bed (audiobook) by Jennifer Weiner read by Laura Hicks. The story was good but I was expecting it to go in a different direction. The narration was good too.
July 11, 2012
I only gave the two stars because I feel like she spelled everything properly and her editing team is fabulous.
In my opinion, this book was supposed to be: fun, anti-skinny, anti-establishment, overweight but smart and witty girl finds herself in a low place and does some shady things to boost her self-confidence. In the meantime, she digs herself into a hole and pulls herself right out of it with wit, charm, and a little bit of good luck. She is the heroine to her own story! Yeah! Girl-power!
What it really was about: Cannie's father is a doctor/douche that left when she was in college (Princeton) and he only paid for ONE year! Poor, put-upon Cannie had to go into a work study. Her mother became a lesbian, and this is bad because it's just.. bad? She is really trying to tell us she is funny and nice. She is neither funny nor kind, and even berates the ex-boyfriends new girlfriend for being a kindergarten teacher and her choice of college. "Oh, you're a kindergarten teacher? I'm smarter than you!" She then goes to a fat-fixer doctor who of course, finds her so appealing and they end up happy-ever-after. Oh, and did I mention the instant A-list celeb best friend that gets her screenplay bought and sold in two seconds?
These kinds of books give me a headache. They start out with good intentions, I think, and then they go down this slippery slide of "I'm going to bash and berate very single person that ever hurt me and I can because I'm like, an author and stuff." This book deserved more and we deserve more.
In my opinion, this book was supposed to be: fun, anti-skinny, anti-establishment, overweight but smart and witty girl finds herself in a low place and does some shady things to boost her self-confidence. In the meantime, she digs herself into a hole and pulls herself right out of it with wit, charm, and a little bit of good luck. She is the heroine to her own story! Yeah! Girl-power!
What it really was about: Cannie's father is a doctor/douche that left when she was in college (Princeton) and he only paid for ONE year! Poor, put-upon Cannie had to go into a work study. Her mother became a lesbian, and this is bad because it's just.. bad? She is really trying to tell us she is funny and nice. She is neither funny nor kind, and even berates the ex-boyfriends new girlfriend for being a kindergarten teacher and her choice of college. "Oh, you're a kindergarten teacher? I'm smarter than you!" She then goes to a fat-fixer doctor who of course, finds her so appealing and they end up happy-ever-after. Oh, and did I mention the instant A-list celeb best friend that gets her screenplay bought and sold in two seconds?
These kinds of books give me a headache. They start out with good intentions, I think, and then they go down this slippery slide of "I'm going to bash and berate very single person that ever hurt me and I can because I'm like, an author and stuff." This book deserved more and we deserve more.
November 8, 2021
4.5 stars
Sorry if this makes you feel old, but Good in Bed , Jennifer Weiner’s debut novel, is celebrating its 20th anniversary!
Cannie feels like she’s in a good place. She has a job she loves as a pop culture reporter, good friends, a dog, and she’s even feeling reasonably okay about her body, which is no easy thing for her. And then her happy place gets blown to smithereens when she learns that Bruce, her ex-boyfriend, has penned an article for a popular magazine called, “Loving a Larger Woman.”
At first she is devastated. How can someone she thought loved her do this to her? She wants to get even. She wonders if she’ll ever find anyone to love her when she’s not your “typical” woman (read: model-thin).
What ensues is a funny, heartwarming, thought-provoking journey of self-discovery. Cannie is a tremendously real character and many of the things that she feels and does (although not all) are very genuine. As someone who has struggled with my weight my whole life, I totally felt the range of emotions she went through, and I totally loved that everything wasn't solved with her suddenly becoming thin and beautiful!
Amazingly, although Weiner has been writing books for 20 years, I only have read her last few books, so I have her whole backlist to explore. And if there are more books like this, I’ll happily dive in!
Thanks to Atria Books for the complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!!
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
Sorry if this makes you feel old, but Good in Bed , Jennifer Weiner’s debut novel, is celebrating its 20th anniversary!
Cannie feels like she’s in a good place. She has a job she loves as a pop culture reporter, good friends, a dog, and she’s even feeling reasonably okay about her body, which is no easy thing for her. And then her happy place gets blown to smithereens when she learns that Bruce, her ex-boyfriend, has penned an article for a popular magazine called, “Loving a Larger Woman.”
At first she is devastated. How can someone she thought loved her do this to her? She wants to get even. She wonders if she’ll ever find anyone to love her when she’s not your “typical” woman (read: model-thin).
What ensues is a funny, heartwarming, thought-provoking journey of self-discovery. Cannie is a tremendously real character and many of the things that she feels and does (although not all) are very genuine. As someone who has struggled with my weight my whole life, I totally felt the range of emotions she went through, and I totally loved that everything wasn't solved with her suddenly becoming thin and beautiful!
Amazingly, although Weiner has been writing books for 20 years, I only have read her last few books, so I have her whole backlist to explore. And if there are more books like this, I’ll happily dive in!
Thanks to Atria Books for the complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!!
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
April 20, 2012
It's interesting to think about how this book helped set the standard for "chick lit" as we know it today because to me the quality of writing and subject matters in "Good in Bed" are above and beyond some of the smut that's classified as chick lit today. The story is downright dark and depressing at times and I thought she nailed the emotional reactions to every major topic (e.g. her father's selfishness and lack of love for his kids, Bruce's callousness and consistent immaturity, and finally the birth of a premature baby). I enjoyed reading it and would definitely say it's worth reading.
My qualm was only with the unfeasibility of some of the story's turns of events--specifically her chance meeting in the bathroom with the movie star who became her best friend, sold her screenplay for her, and then the section where she was in Hollywood just doing nothing for a month, during which time she wanders into a random doctor's office in California and finds her MIA father, all culminating in being pushed at the airport by her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend, thus sending her into premature labor. To me, all of that really took away from the realism of the story, which up until that point had been its greatest strength. That succession of silly scenes is what I hate about chick lit. She got the realism back in spades for the ending, which was incredibly well done and emotional to read, but nonetheless, I just couldn't get over the Hollywood ridiculousness.
My qualm was only with the unfeasibility of some of the story's turns of events--specifically her chance meeting in the bathroom with the movie star who became her best friend, sold her screenplay for her, and then the section where she was in Hollywood just doing nothing for a month, during which time she wanders into a random doctor's office in California and finds her MIA father, all culminating in being pushed at the airport by her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend, thus sending her into premature labor. To me, all of that really took away from the realism of the story, which up until that point had been its greatest strength. That succession of silly scenes is what I hate about chick lit. She got the realism back in spades for the ending, which was incredibly well done and emotional to read, but nonetheless, I just couldn't get over the Hollywood ridiculousness.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2016
This is a fun and funny first novel from Jennifer Weiner. I picked it up after reading Weiner's memoir, Hungry Heart, in which she discussed her inspiration for the story and how it came to be published.
The story is that a reporter, Cannie Shapiro, has recently broken up with her boyfriend when she discovers that he's started writing a column about their relationship for a men's magazine. Cannie is angry, humiliated and also heartbroken. The novel is about how Cannie deals with the mess, and eventually moves on with her life. (Weiner has admitted that she likes giving her characters happy endings, which is part of the reason I wanted to read this. 2016 has been such a dumpster fire of a year that a happy ending sounded pretty good.)
I appreciated some aspects of the novel more knowing that they were based on Weiner's real life, such as the bad breakup, her struggles with overeating, and what it was like having her mother come out as a lesbian. Overall, this story was a pleasant escape and I enjoyed listening to this audiobook.
The story is that a reporter, Cannie Shapiro, has recently broken up with her boyfriend when she discovers that he's started writing a column about their relationship for a men's magazine. Cannie is angry, humiliated and also heartbroken. The novel is about how Cannie deals with the mess, and eventually moves on with her life. (Weiner has admitted that she likes giving her characters happy endings, which is part of the reason I wanted to read this. 2016 has been such a dumpster fire of a year that a happy ending sounded pretty good.)
I appreciated some aspects of the novel more knowing that they were based on Weiner's real life, such as the bad breakup, her struggles with overeating, and what it was like having her mother come out as a lesbian. Overall, this story was a pleasant escape and I enjoyed listening to this audiobook.
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