Not her best, but still Weiner material

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	• The Guy Not Taken: Stories Jennifer Weiner Washington Square Press, 2007 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 59 reviews view larger image
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Not her best, but still Weiner material

Before you go comparing this book to Weiner's "Good in Bed", keep in mind that this collection of short stories were written before that book, "half a lifetime ago, [starting] when I was 18", she tells us. Many of these were written during her college years at Princeton, and she still had her professor's written notes "polish this up [and] publish it". Think of these stories sort of as rough drafts- not perfect, but the raw materials are there.

Many of Weiner's books focus around broken marriages, which tends to get repetitive. But Weiner admits that her parents spilt up when she was 17 and she was so hurt that all her stories, from freshman to senior year in college, revolved around divorce and broken families. In "Just Desserts", Josie Krystal and her family suffer greatly when her Dad decides to up and leave the family; meanwhile, Josie must deal with a Mother that is always doing laps in the pool and a younger sister who is spoiled rotten and somehow gets Josie to do everything she asks. All the while, we wonder wether this is Nicki's nature, or a result of abandonment issues. In "Swim", we find a girl who's parents died early on, forcing her to live with her grandmother. Now in her thirties in L.A., she makes a living rewriting college applications for spoiled rich kids. A chance encounter with a stranger in a coffee shop gives her the idea to also start a business rewriting personal ads for people, making them more "marketable". (Interestingly, Weiner tells us her editor really wanted this story for the book, but Weiner, who admits to being a clutter bug, couldn't find it. So, she had to rewrite it from her memory, changing it from a NY setting to L.A. She refers to it as "Swim 2.0"). The title story "The Guy Not Taken" was an idea Weiner got from a Stephen King short story about a guy who inherhits his dead nephew's computer and starts using the 'delete' button in a sinister way. In Weiner's story, a woman named Marlie, with a husband and 6-month old son, is purusing a bridal registry to buy a gift for her brother and sister-in-law to be when it dawns on her to type in her old flame's info. Bing! His name shows up, and Marlie can't help but be jealous. When she gets the crazy idea to switch her name with Bob's fiancee (she remembered his only password), she wakes up the next day next to Bob instead of her husband Drew. Now that Marlie's made a huge mess of things, can she ever get back to her old life?

The interesting thing about these stories is that they are told in a sort of chronilogical order- from the youngest person to the oldest, in a sense, creating a lifetime of tales. At the end of the book, Weiner gives a breakdown of each story and how it came about, which I found almost more entertaining than the stories themselves. Some have cried foul at Weiner publishing these, as though she were out for a quick buck. However, I think it incredibly brave of her to share her early work, something many writers would probably rather keep buried in their attic. If you decide to read this, go into it with an open mind and don't expect stuff resembling Weiner's later works. Be fair and give it a chance.

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PERFECT PAIRING OF NARRATORS

Those drawn to the novels of Jennifer Weiner, especially Good In Bed and In Her Shoes (which was made into a major motion picture) will want to listen and probably listen again to this collection of her short stories. She has the ability to create characters to whom we easily relate, individuals cut from everyday life with all of our common foibles and gifts.

These 11 stories once again capture men and women during transitional and transforming times in their lives. "Just Desserts" and "Travels With Nicki," the two opening stories were written early in Weiner's career. They reflect, to a great extent, her own life experience - the effects of divorce on a once apparently close knit family.

Josie, the lead character, reflects her feelings with, ""I had heard them fighting at night, his hissing whispers and her tears, and I knew that for the last month he'd come home late, and for the last week, not at all, but I'd been telling myself I was worrying about nothing, that they were just going through a rough patch, that things were going to be fine."

In another tale (the title story) Marlie Davidow wonders about what might have been when she comes upon her ex boyfriend's online wedding registry. Here she is with a new baby, lonely, and it's late at night. What might have happened had she chosen him?

Sometimes a tender moment, at other times tough going, each story takes on the reality of life as it is today, especially when read by such talented actors as Mary Catherine Garrison and Jordan Bridges. Remembered for her guest appearances on TV's Law and Order as well as her Broadway performance in The Man Who Came to Dinner, Ms. Garrison has a winning voice that accurately captures both joy and pathos. Jordan Bridges is a gifted actor and well he should be as he's the son, nephew, and grandson of Beau, Jeff and Lloyd Bridges. His narration is articulate, powerful when strength is needed, always very much in sync with the character he currently inhabits.

Enjoy!

- Gail Cooke

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, page 10, 11, 12

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