A good book to curl up in bed with

At first I wasn't sure how I wanted to rate Good in Bed. Cannie is a completely different kind of heroine- a plus-sized body is not usually what we get in the protagonist of a piece of chick lit. Usually I'm quite skeptical of the women in fiction who seem perfect- often they've got an ugly imperfection lurking beneath the surface. But with Cannie, its all out there: from her insecurities about her body to her insecurities about boyfriends and her career at a newspaper in Philadelphia, Cannie's feelings are typical of the way that many women in their 20s feel.

Bruce seems perfect at first: he's Jewish, educated, and he's taller than Cannie is. After three years of dating, they "go on a break," which means different things for the two. Bruce writes an article which appears in a chick magazine: "Good in Bed," about plus-sized women- and Cannie in particular. Furious at first, Cannie confronts Bruce about the article, to which he really has no answer, except, "I thought we had broken up." One wonders why Bruce wrote the article (even using Cannie's first initial to talk about her!)- revenge, perhaps?

Personality wise, Cannie's mother is similar to Mrs. Jones in Bridget Jones's Diary. Although different to be sure (divorced, lesbian, Jewish), Cannie's mother has the same kind of sparking personality that Mrs. Jones has. We also get to meet Cannie's mother's girlfriend, the chain-smoking Tanya who is at least twenty years younger than her girlfriend and has a past history of parents being abusive towards her, as well as a psychotic ex-girlfriend. Tanya to me didn't seem like a bad person, only one who is haunted by the mistakes she made in life, and I don't think that Cannie or her bother or sister ever gave her a proper chance.

Cannie's personal background is recounted to the reader in painstaking detail, showing how much her father leaving the family has impacted them all. However, I found fault with Weiner's depiction of the Philadelphia suburbs: most people are not poor on the Main Line- in fact, in most cases, rather the opposite. In Good in Bed, Weiner compares the area to "the Appalachia" or "the Third World." Tsk, tsk, to Ms. Weiner for not doing her research.

In New York to interview a rising female actor, Maxi Ryder, the petite actress and Cannie become friends almost instantly. In a night of drunkenness in which the ladies pour out their life stories to one another, Maxi tells Cannie to call Bruce- at which point she finds out that he's dating another woman. Reading about his relationship with this new woman, "E" is painful for Cannie to swallow. On that same night, Cannie hands Maxie a screenplay that she had been working on for weeks, not ever expecting to get it back again. But many things in this book are surprising.

What saddened me about this book (and I hope I'm not giving too much away here) was the way in which Bruce acted towards Cannie's child- which was certainly hers as well. That is to say, her never acknowledged either. However, Cannie has her friends and family to support her, and an interesting romantic prospect on the horizons.

Cannie's change occurs gradually, and is hard to pick out at times. But the changes that occur are good for her and, inevitably, for the people around her as well. Although as a first novel this book has some minor imperfections, this is well-written and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good book to curl up in bed with.

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If you're looking for the next great novel, this probably isn't it. But if you're looking for a book that's not too heavy, funny, and extremely entertaining, then this is the book for you!

Because I hate people who ruin books before you can read them, I will try not to delve into too many details. This is a great women's book (definitely not a guy book) that deals with many of the issues that we go through on a daily basis. The central issue is self-esteem which even though not all would admit, most people have issues with. It's plot is constantly moving and changing which instead of making it hard to follow only makes it hard to put down.

Your attention is immediately grabbed in the first chapter when Cannie (the main character) finds that her ex-boyfriend has written about their relationship in a popular Cosmo-like magazine. Without revealing too much, I will say that it deals with her size and mainly her weight. After that, you find out about her journey on dealing with self-acceptance and discovering who she really is.

I will admit that I am a bit biased about this book because I related to Cannie more than most people might. When she describes her height (exactly the same) and size (also too close for comfort), I immediately bonded with the character. Although I've never had the experiences she has, I can relate to the way people respond to some of our stature. Don't think that just because you've never struggled with weight problems, you won't related to this book. It's written well enough that anyone can related to Cannie's experiences.

Plain and simple, this book is fun and easy too read. It's not so dumbed down that it's on a child's level, nor is the content appropriate for children! After I'd borrowed this twice, I decided to buy this one to have my own copy. This is a deceptively simple, yet wonderful book. But try it for yourself! Another novel I need to recommend -- completely unrelated to this one, but very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition" by Richard Perez, an exceptional, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.

Great, Fun Read

This was my first Weiner book and I plan to read all her others after enjoying Good in Bed so much. What a fun book! One connects with the main character and I LOVE her dog Niftkin. I found myself cheering her on!