Good in Bed - Jennifer Weiner

Jennifer Weiner is the poster author for chick-lit. For that reason, I think I've put off reading her novels - even though I clearly read a lot of chick lit...but I thought I'd go to the source and see what this author who kind of started it all had to say for herself. Good in Bed is the story of Cannie, a 28-year old journalist, who has a penchant for food, but for the most part seems relatively happy in her own body. When an ex-boyfriend that she was never that into starts publishing a column in a popular magazine about their relationship, Cannie goes somewhat off the deep end. She finds herself convinced that they should get back together, and despite her common sense and better judgment, turns into one of those annoyingly whiny charicatures of a self-absorbed and pathetic woman. Cannie then hits upon a stroke of good luck, interviewing a famous actress with whom she develops an unlikely but fortuitous friendship. I had to admit that the story while irritating at times and far-fetched at others, was a pretty well-written almost fairy-tale. I was turned off by Cannie's ability to move on from bad relationships and to recognize good ones - though there is an explanation for it that revolved around her broken relationship with her father - and I thought Weiner did a decent job of being real with her characters even when the plot sometimes took a turn for the absurd. This was perfect mindless/entertaining airplane reading for me (though I did find myself a little embarrassed carrying this around in public) - I'm happy that Weiner has continued to publish and see her books appearing on this blog in the future.