Title: Good In Bed Author: Jennifer Weiner type of book: Fiction call number: Fic

This book is strong in character and story.

Summary:
Cannie Shapiro, a pop culture reporter for the Philadelphia Examiner, is fairly content with her life. She loves her job (though a few changes could be made concerning co-workers), her apartment, her pet rat terrier Nifkin, her friends and life in Philadelphia.

Then, the relationship she decided 3 months ago to take a break from comes back to haunt her by way of an article written by her ex-boyfriend for Moxie magazine.

"Loving a larger woman is an act of courage in our world..." it begins, and her view of herself and her life comes crashing down.

I would recommend this book!

Why?
This is Jennifer Weiner's debut novel. I wish I had read it before reading her second book, In Her Shoes. The characters are just as vivid and the story just as interesting as in the other book, but this time things are not quite as rosy, although the ending is still a happy one (albeit not perfectly so).

I must admit that, being a larger woman myself (i.e. more of a size 16 than a size 6), it is great to read a fiction book that the main character is so real in how she sees herself and how she perceives that others see her.

There are a lot of similarities in both books, including Cannie and her dog, Nifkin, making cameos in In Her Shoes. These similarities include, but aren't limited to:

Both main characters are slightly overweight and have issues with their weight

Both are the oldest and have younger sisters who are underachievers

Both main characters are in between approximately 27-31 throughout the books

Both have only one birth parent in their lives, and do not like their "step-parents"

Both live in Philadelphia

Both involve dogs as feature characters

Both have characters that are experts on food

Both are Jewish, as are the guys they date

I am sure there are more similarities than I can remember as I am writing this. My only reason for mentioning this is that it makes me wonder: Is the author writing of her own life and insecurities? Will her next book be any different?

Other suggested reading:

Read In Her Shoes, also by Jennifer Weiner - just wait a while before you read it, so the similarities aren't so blaring.

Employee Initials: ALSM Review Date: April 2003

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