Short Stories: The Guy Not Taken

I listened to the audio version of the The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner in my car last week. Honestly, I didn't realize it was short stories until I popped it in my cd player and heard the beginning: "The Guy Not Taken, a collection of short stories by Jennifer Weiner" (or something to that affect). Huh, I thought, how did I not realize that when I bought it. Maybe because I just saw a cheap audio book and since cheap ones are hard to find I just grabbed it!

I actually enjoyed these stories(for the most part). I think Weiner may be a better writer of short stories than full novels. The stories are complete and you're left feeling fulfilled but you don't feel like she cheated at the end to get the girl with the guy and make a happily ever after as I usually feel after listening (because I've never read one) to one of her novels . I'm not sure what the process is when short stories are placed together in a book to decide which comes first but I'm not sure the order in this case does Weiner any favors for 2 reasons: 1. The first three stories are actually all about the same character at different times in her life and could have, with a little more flushing, been a full length novel. 2. They are not even close to the best stories in the book. The main character/narrator is not all that interesting either. I get very annoyed by characters that are what I see as "weak." I mean girls who never tell their mothers to back off or let the man treat them like shit just because they want a boyfriend. This is the narrator and for some reason a common character trait of girls in these chick-lit novels. I would actually like to hear the same stories told from her sister Nikki's point of view. Now THAT would make a great novel. Here's an example of Nikki from the story Travels with Nikki

My sister's earliest childhood memories were of torture. She talked frequently, nostalgically, about the happy days of her youth when she'd give John his bath and pour alternating pitchers of hot and cold water over his back. Never hot enough to burn him, just hot enough to make him extremely uncomfortable.

Swim, the story following this trilogy, is one of her better stories and why I think Weiner is a talented writer, even if I don't normally like the genre she writes. It's the story of a Hollywood screen writer learning to be comfortable with who she is and her place in the world. It does not have a happily ever after ending but I felt hopeful at the end even so and felt it was good in the way a short story should be, a complete story with good ending that doesn't leave you feeling as if it was simply the outlines of her next novel.

Good Men is the only story in this collection told from a man's point of view and on the audio is voiced by a man. This was a little jarring. Maybe when you're reading it's not so strange to go from 4 stories told by a woman to 1 told by a man but when you're listening and you have a certain voice in your head, it's very distracting. Also, I wasn't impressed with the story itself. A bunch of boys out on the town during a bachelor's party trying to figure out why anyone gets married and then they decided the problem in the narrator's relationship is the dog. The dog is evil so they plan to go kidnap it. Huh?

Buyer's Market is actually a great story but I didn't think so at first. I didn't like Jess, the narrator, for the simple reason that she's selling her beloved NYC apartment just so she can get the attention of her realtor. It's obvious to everyone but Jess that this down-on-his-luck realtor is playing her so her can get the commission on her apartment ("a weak character again" is what I thought). I ended up liking the story as it has one of those rare moments when you can see the change in a character. The moment when you get to see how her whole life could have been very different if she had not had this moment. It kind of reminds me of Sliding Doors in that way, a movie I love.

The Guy Not Taken is a new look at a common theme both in movies and books: what would my life be like if I had done this ONE thing different. Our narrator is Marlie and one night while at home with her baby she stumbles onto her ex-boyfriend's wedding registry. On a lark she logs in as him, knowing his passwords are always the same, and changes the name of the bride to her own. The next moment the computer shuts down and she is not able to change it back. She wakes up the next day with no baby, in her old apartment, next to her ex and getting ready for their engagement party...
It was interesting if cliche. Though I thought it didn't feel complete at the end.

The Mother's Hour was, for me, the best story in this book. Unfortunately, being an "abridgement" there were three stories from the book not in this audio version so I can't say that for sure but it was well written and a beautiful story about the friendship between two very different women, Alice and Victoria, and their children that develops when they both go to a Mother's Hour group. The group sounds like a cross between baby's playtime and group counseling session for moms. Not sure exactly what kind of group it was supposed to be but the defining moment for the group comes when one of the mother's wrongly reports Victoria for child abuse.

Check this out. You will not be disappointed.

Best Friends Forever

Here I go reviewing another chick-lit book. They are so perfect for listening to while driving. I hate driving and they take me away and make me laugh. I have come to believe that sometimes fluff is good, even if I would be bored just sitting on my couch reading it. It's not boring listening.

Jennifer Weiner's book Best Friends Forever is the story of childhood friends Addie and Valerie who have not spoken to each other since senior year of high school. On the night of their 10 year reunion, Valerie unexpectedly drops by Addie's house in need of her help. Though suspicious and (still) angry, Addie is also secretly delighted that her best friend has come back to her.

I found Addie to whiny and Valerie to be vapid and the situation slightly unbelievable which by themselves could have made this book get an F from Miss Tonya but together made the story funny and diverting on my boring drive. I suggest if you like this genre of books go out and read right away. You will not be disappointed. Except I was. The end was a big let down. Weiner had this great story and this funny relationship between her two characters and it's obvious she spent a lot of time deciding which direction to go next: make it a little more crazy or give the reader a breather for a minute. She even came up with a great ending. The problem was she kept going after the book should have ended. I guess she wanted to have the "happily ever after" ending where everyone gets what they want and the girl gets the awesome boy and everyone kisses and is "happy." This ending just rang hollow and I wish she hadn't tried to do that. Sometimes as a reader I like a little bit of a vague future that I can picture for myself.

Audio: Twenties Girl

Once again I chose a chick-lit book for my car driving entertainment. I am actually liking Sophie Kinsella's books, against my better judgement! I still don't think it's the kind of thing I would want to sit down and read on my couch when I feel like being taken away by a book, but I really like listening to them in the car.

Lara is a 27-year-old head hunter trying to make a go of her new business, which she started with her flaky best friend. The best friend who ran off to the tropics with some man and left her holding down the fort. The best friend who actually knows something about being a head hunter, unlike Lara who has never worked in the business before. In the midst of this Lara is required to attend the funeral of her 107 year great aunt. While there, Lara hears a strange woman screaming, "WHERE'S MY NECKLACE!" Oddly enough, it turns out to be the ghost of Sadie, her recently deceased great aunt. You know, the one they're having the funeral for...The story is a hilarious journey to find Sadie's necklace and the changes she brings to Lara life.

Personally, I think this is Kinsella's best book yet. The Shopaholic series really did nothing for me, though I enjoyed the movie. Domestic Goddess and Remember Me? were pretty good but I simply don't think they hold a candle to this book. Lara's growing relationship with the great aunt she never met when she was alive is hilarious and beautiful. The capers they get into are just ridiculous, but not unbelievably so. This is a definite must read for someone looking for a fun book.

Audio: Good Grief by Lolly Winston

Good Grief by Lolly Winston is the story of Sophie Stanton, a 36 year old widow desperately trying to be a good widow - you know, like Jackie Kennedy, but quickly finding out she's more like a Jack Daniels kind of widow. Her life starts to take a turn for the worst when she stops showing up for work on a regular basis and on the day she does go, doesn't bother changing out of her robe and bunny slippers (as the picture on the cover shows). In an effort to reinvent herself, Sophie moves to be near a friend in Ashland, Oregon but not everything goes as planned there either.

I found this story to be just the right mix of sadness and comic relief. Sophie shows a good sense of humor even when she is at her most depressed. The only problem I have is not with the book itself - as far as I know. The audio I was listening to was an abridged version. I don't normally like listening to abridged books but it's really difficult to find too many unabridged audios and when I do, they're very expensive. Most of the time I don't feel like I missing anything. The story still flows so it's apparently been well edited. This was not the case in this book. I constantly felt like I had missed something. I'm not sure if the book was just written that way, with parts of her life glossed over and talked about later or if they left out some fairly important parts in the abridged audio. I hate that I'll never know unless I go back and read the full book.

Audio: Baby Proof by Emily Griffin

To be honest I was not particularly impressed with this book. I thought the writing was good and the storyline interesting but something integral to good writing was missing: character development. The characters go no where. With the exception of one minor character in the book, no one changes. From the box:

First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes...a baby carriage? Isn't that what all women want? Not so for Claudia Parr. And just as she gives up on finding a man who feels the same way, she meets warm, wonderful Ben. Things seems too good to be true when they fall in love and agree to buck tradition with a satisfying, child-free marriage. Then the unexpected occurs: one of them has a change of heart. One of them wants children after all.

In the interview with the author at the end of the story, Griffin says that she wanted to give a voice to the women who DON'T want children. They are not lepers and there is not something wrong with them, even though society makes them out to be. I applaud her effort. I, for one, am one of those women. I love children and get along great with them, I simply don't want any of my own. I have a friend who has a wonderful marriage. She also doesn't want children. People always act like we're crazy because of this.

In this book, Claudia's husband one day spits out that he's changed his mind. He actually does want children and he wants her to change her mind too. Claudia feels betrayed, especially when he enlists the help of their families. The book is surprisingly heavy for the chick-lit genre. I won't ruin the story by telling anymore, in case you want to read it yourself, but I was irritated with the end. Like I said, only one character (a minor one at that) has any type of inner journey. Even Claudia is exactly the same at the end and she's the lead character! She tries to change, I guess that's the important part, but it felt false. I was very irritated by the end of this book for a number of reasons. Her best friend, her sisters, and her husband all have major life complications that should make the most hard-headed of people take a different look at their life, but it simply doesn't happen, except in one case. It reminded me of a roommate I had in grad-school who, after watching the movie Sliding Doors (one of my favorites), stated,"I like that movie because it shows that no matter what we do in life, we can't change the outcome of our lives. It's going to happen whether we do something or not." FOR REAL??!! That's a positive message? Maybe I'm just weird but that's not comforting.

Audio: The Undomestic Goddess

After listening to The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella (the second of hers I've listened to now), I've come to a realization. I think I might like chick literature. Silently screaming "NO NO NO" right now. Maybe it's simply because I listened to them. I've never liked chick lit before. It's kind of like being able to watch Bridget Jones while I drive (which I don't recommend, of course). Or maybe Sophie Kinsella is a better writer than most chick lit authors. I also realize that using the term "chick lit" is slightly demeaning, but hey, that's what it is. From the back:

Workaholic attorney Samantha Sweeting has just done the unthinkable. She's made a mistake so huge, it'll wreck any chance of partnership. Going into utter meltdown, she walks out of her London office, gets on a train, and ends up in the middle of nowhere. Asking for directions at a big, beautiful house, she's mistaken for an interviewee and finds herself being offered a job as a housekeeper. Her employers have no idea they've hired a lawyer - and Samantha has no idea how to work the oven. She can't sew a button, bake a potato, or get the *&%&^$ ironing board to open. How she takes a deep breath and begins to cope...is a story as delicious as the bread she learns to bake.

Now I'll admit, it was very predictable and I've said in the past the reason I don't like mysteries is because they're so predictable. But maybe that's not the full reason. It WAS predictable but not in a way that Samantha should have seen all along. When she does start to get hints that something's not right, she doesn't waste 500 pages looking in the wrong direction (as often happens in P.I. and mystery books), she immediately starts to figure it out. Also, it was simply funny. I found myself laughing full out while stuck in traffic. You can't go wrong with a book like that.

Here's one of my favorite moments. It's about the gardener.

Great. One look at his body and I have a full-blown crush. I honestly thought I was a bit deeper than that.
As I shower and get dressed the next morning, I'm totally fixated by thoughts of Nathaniel. I'm aware I've reverted to the behavior of a 14 year old, that next I'll be doodling "Samantha loves Nathaniel" with a heart dotting the "i," but I don't care.