Good in Bed

Rating:
Summary: A bit disappointing!!
Review: From the title of the book I was expecting long passages describing acts which in, the eyes of the writer, would be bed activity which were good. To my disappointment, this book was about being over weight and the process one person followed which resulted in her losing about 80 pounds. For this reason, I have given this book a low rating. Had the title been different then I would not have thought as I did. The author must pay for her misleading title by hearing about my hurt. Hopefully the next book she writes she will choose her title more carefully.

Rating:
Summary: Female Forrest Gump - not in a good way
Review: When I closed the cover of Good in Bed for the last time, I said "Geez, Cannie Shapiro is the female Forrest Gump!" And, I didn't mean it in a good way. She stumbles into life-changing tragedies and victories pretty much like Forrest did.

I was really getting into the book and commiserating with Cannie about her break-up, her dad's desertion, her mother's new lifestyle, even her frustrations at work, then she Gump's a meeting with a hot actress, gets an amazing spa day, dinner, drinking binge and friend-for-life out of it. Yeah, did I mention that Julia Roberts and I are now best buddies, we met in a bathroom stall....... please! Of course, this new friend, Maxi, buys her screenplay, and Cannie doesn't even balk that her principle character and principles are compromised when Maxi, the petite Brit, decides she's to play the main character, someone patterned after Cannie herself, a "larger woman" - American to boot.

Of course we can't forget the airport and bathroom incident with her ex's (Bruce) girlfriend. And all the turmoil that encounter causes. Again, Cannie Gump's her way through this - including a walking jag that rivals Forrest's run around the US - and finds true love in the process.

Ms. Weiner lost me shortly after Cannie's meltdown in the New York bathroom where she met Maxi.

It could have been really enjoyable but turned into an unbelievable, "when will this end" saga. Fiction means not true, not preposterous!

Rating:
Summary: Good, quick read
Review: I read this book over the course of two flights and it was a more than adequate traveling companion. It was very comical in a slap stick way in the beginning, then moved into funny in an ironic way, then progresses into a pretty serious novel. The transitions were smooth and make this a very memorable book.

Good In Bed is the story of Cannie, who has just broken up with her boyfriend, who in turn mortifies her by detailing their failed relationship in his monthly magazine column. The beginning of the book details how she tries to deal with her situation and better her life on her own. There is a brief stint where she is dazzled by an encounter with a famous movie star that was extremely far fetched (the only reason I didn't give it five stars) but other than that Cannie was one of the most relatable heroines in the new chick lit genre that I have come across thus far. This could have been a light-hearted romp about revenge filled with fluff, but instead it reaches a bit deeper than getting even and shows that shopping or a new nail polish doesn't change one's life for the better and Good In Bed is that much better for it.

I love all the Brit Chick Lit books out there and gobble them up like candy, but I must admit its was very refreshing to read a book in this vein about an American girl living in America for a change. I hope that this is the first of many books to come from Ms. Weiner. I totally get where she's coming from.

Rating:
Summary: Good In Bed an excellent read/
Review: Good in Bed was an excellent read. It dealt with real life issues,overweight, single parenthood
homosexuality,just to name a few. And any reader can identify with these issues.I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it. I can't wait to read her new book which I have reserved at the library. Pam

Rating:
Summary: Rings True
Review: I loved this read - I could certainly identify with Cannie and all of her troubles. Even the fantasy of having a movie star friend appeals to me. I laughed out loud and gto teary eyed throughout her story. Buy this book - you will not regret having read it!

Rating:
Summary: Great novel!
Review: This book took me a little longer than usual to read but it's still good. I didn't realize it was so long (longer than most novels) but then again, there were enough plot twists to keep it interesting. Cannie isn't your typical heroine, being that she's got a few extra pounds on her. But in the end, everything's as it should be and that's what matters. The main plot twist was completely unexpected; I totally did not think that would happen (I don't want to spoil it for any potential readers). I highly recommend this book and can't wait for Jennifer Weiner's next novel.

Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL BOOK! I LAUGHED, I CRIED!
Review: This book is one of my favorites. Jennifer Weiner writes with such style. "Good In Bed" is a very enjoyable book, and a really fun read - it made me laugh AND cry! Such a wonderful debut.
The gist is that Cannie, a reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer, recently broke up with her boyfriend Bruce. One day, Cannie sees an article that Bruce wrote called "Loving A Larger Woman." Since this article is about Cannie, Cannie gets very upset, and then pines for Bruce to come back to her. Major things start to happen when she befreinds Maxi, a movie star. Cannie sells her screenplay and travels to L.A. for a few months. Then, something big happens...that I don't want to give away. But I can say that this book had something for everyone and that it was very funny. Very, very funny! Cannie is a very likeable character - she is smart, funny, kind, and, above all things, REAL. Cannie's realness is part of what made this book stand out from all the others. It is just so refreshing to see a woman of Cannie's character.
The bottom line - GREAT BOOK, BUY IT!

Rating:
Summary: I'm missing something.
Review: The shame of it is that after reading the reviews, this was a book I really wanted to love. I guess this is either a brilliant book that I simply didn't get, judging by the reviews here, or it's a terribly depressing...fairy tale that makes me contemplate suicide. Either way, I'm disappointed. Space prohibits me from a line-by-line analysis of this problematic tome, but I'll try to hit the high points:

1. As others have pointed out, she's 5'10" and a size 16. This is a problem?... Maybe I should check again.

2. The narrator makes so much of the parent's painful divorce that one wants to say: Enough already! Yes, Daddy was a creep who abandoned the family... Mommy's lesbian lover is a bit of a trial (and one of the most stereotypical portrayals of a lesbian I've ever read, nearly to the point of offensiveness) but for those of us who actually grew up in severely abusive families, thank God you had one parent who truly loved you. Cannie also has loving siblings and friends, plus an education and career most 20-somethings would envy (even before the screenplay sale, itself quite a stretch) yet apparently all this love and achievement pales in comparison to her "weight problem." Oh, please.

3. The "weight doctor," Peter, that she goes to see is so taken with her that he takes up jogging at her favorite haunts and practically stalks her simply to have a conversation with her (and be her pack mule at the mall all day, despite the fact that she is pregnant with another man's child. Even more than that, he talks about how "funny" and wonderful she is. Clearly I'm not getting something here. She's got ripostes, put-downs and one-liners, but not much I'd consider really "funny." He proposes to her at the end of the book despite the fact that they haven't really been dating and don't really seem to know each other. Needed a happy ending, I suppose.

4. The pregnancy by her nasty ex-boyfriend (who's already written the infamous "Good in Bed" article when she sleeps with him!) could have been the subject of some real soul-searching and good writing. Instead, it's used as an opportunity to go shopping, whine even more, and--well, go shopping. Only the end of the pregnancy in the NICU touches on the poignant, and even then it seems more of a plot device to bring Cannie, her family, and the doctor closer together (especially the doctor.) Bruce's non-reaction to the whole thing also seems a tad suspect, since she broke up with him (for what seemed like good reasons). He has no opinion on the subject whatsoever? Not to mention that his girlfriend (whose name Cannie does not even know) pushes Cannie down on her way home from LA, causing the premature birth and hysterectomy. Again, does anyone else find this out of proportion?

5. Yes, the whole impromptu-friendship-with-movie-star in bathroom is a bit contrived, but seemed cute, but I was willing to go along with it. The idea that Minnie Driver (whoops, Maxie Ryder's) loved it enough that she wants to play the lead role (the movie seems to be about a chunky reporter who falls for a comic actor who magically loves her back--'nuff said?) does tax suspension of disbelief. When Cannie gets to meet her movie-star hero, he seems not the least fazed by her eight-months-pregnancy and takes her out to the beach, saying "Kiss me." Then he passes out, which I guess explains something. Oh, and the screenplay is called "Star Struck." My, how original.

6. So Cannie is now a rich screenwriter, decides she can live with her thighs, has a beautiful if premature baby...snags a doctor husband, and even makes up with mom's lesbian lover. Not to mention that Maxi the movie star spends what must be thousands to fix up Cannie's apartment for her and the baby--but despite being lavished with love and gifts, Cannie doesn't seem to come to close to being something other than bitter until oh, about the last ten pages. A good beach read is one thing, and could have been fun. This privileged whining is maudlin to the point of neurosis.

As I said, this was a book I really wanted to like. It ended up depressing--we should all be so lucky as this bitter, self-hating "heroine."

Rating:
Summary: What's all the hype about??
Review: It amazes me that this is a popular read. I am an easy to please reader who is rarely critical. But, this book bored me to death. It has a great beginning -- and so much potential. However, I soon felt like Cannie was somewhat obnoxious and always complaining. I decided i didn't like her when I hit part about the first group meeting at the doctor's office (page 70)makes a complete fool out of the poor nurse. Yeah, the nurse was going over calorie control, protein and fiber portions, etc... and yeah, most of these women were very familiar with all that. But, she had to start off with the basics. All Canie had to do was say something. instead, she completely disrespects the nurse and turns all the group members against her. And thinks it's funny when the woman becomes frustrated and runs out of the room. There's a fine line between an amusing, slightly melodramatic character and a self absorbed, obnoxious one.

Rating:
Summary: FANTASTIC
Review: I loved this novel. I read it almost a year ago and I the characters still stay with me. This is a wonderfully original novel which was very funny. I would recommend this novel for people who love reading the chick-lit but are getting a bit bored with the unoriginal, poorly written and frankly boring titles that keep flooding the genre.