None of them are great, but there are some keepers in this collection

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	• The Guy Not Taken: Stories Jennifer Weiner Washington Square Press, 2007 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 58 reviews view larger image
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None of them are great, but there are some keepers in this collection

The Guy Not Taken is not chick lit, and is an interesting departure from the witty romantic comedies I've come to expect from Jennifer Weiner. None of the stories is really funny, and as a whole the collection is kind of depressing. The theme of each story seems to be that one of the characters is going through life feeling like something is missing and they're desperately trying to figure out how to get it back: sometimes it's an old flame, sometimes it's self-confidence, and--in many cases, it is the oft-discussed dissolution of marriage. In the notes about this book, Weiner says that her writing in college pretty much centered around the fact that her parents got divorced and it hurt. From about half of the stories in this collection, you get the picture loud and clear that she still might not be over it. Still, the collection is well-written, and if you can look past the fact that it's not lighthearted and upbeat, you'll probably find one or two stories that you'll enjoy.

Personally my favorites were Swim and Buyer's Market:

In Swim, we meet Ruth, a Los Angeles screenwriter who has been working as a college applications counselor since leaving her last position as a sitcom writer. Ruth meets her clients at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and helps them create polished essays and practice for their admissions interviews in the hopes that they'll get into the school of their choice. Though she secretly thinks that many of these kids are overpriveleged, vapid brats. they pay her bills so can't complain. When Ruth meets Caitlyn, who seems like just another spoiled little rich girl, she learns that things aren't always as they appear. And one day sitting in the coffee shop, she meets a man who gives her the bright idea that college applications essays might not be all she's qualified to write.

Swim was one of the less morose stories in the collection, and in that sense, a welcome departure from the gloom surrounding the first few stories. Ruth has a dark side of her own, but it's her interactions with people that make the story so interesting. One of my favorite parts of this story is the way Weiner delves into Ruth's past as a screenwriter, and her inability to put her own life back on track despite her willingness to help others attempt the same thing.

Similarly, in Buyer's Market, we met Jess, a New Yorker who inherits a beautiful upper West side apartment from her deceased aunt, but never quite feels at home despite her lavish surroundings. When Jess falls in love with a realtor who is struggling to make his first sale, she lets him list her apartment in the hopes that it will attract potential clientele. Still, she never intends to actually sell her great aunt's apartment and convinces herself that the listing will solidify her relationship with the realtor and that when things are said and done, they'll get a good laugh out of this story.

Of course things don't work out the way Jess wants them to, but they rarely do in real life either. I really liked that Weiner didn't just let the story end with things falling apart for Jess, but went on to show us how the choices she made affected her future. The way she finishes stories are one of my favorite things about Jennifer Weiner's writing and I think that you'll find the the collection of stories in The Guy Not Taken is very polished and well-planned. Though I wouldn't say that any of them are great, there are some keepers in this collection, and if you're a fan of Weiner's writing I'd definitely give The Guy Not Taken a chance.

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Not a Fan of Short Stories

I am a HUGE Jennifer Weiner fan, so I was willing to buy this book and give it a try. After reading it I realized that I'm not a fan of short stories. There just isn't enough time to develop the characters and get to know them like in a full length novel.

The short stories in this book are related to times in Jennifer Weiner's life and things she was going through. Some of them are sad and hard to read. I'm a much bigger fan of her other writings.

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Lovely short-story collection by Weiner...

I have read Jennifer Weiner's first three novels and enjoyed Good in Bed and In Her Shoes the most. I haven't given her fourth novel a whirl yet and decided to skip it and read her short-story collection instead. The stories focus on relationships with either men, friends or family, and some of them come across as somewhat autobiographical, especially the stories centered on a young woman and her eccentric family. Some of these stories I remember reading in previous anthologies, such as American Girls About Town and the ones published by Red Dress Ink, but the ones I hadn't read before were quite enjoyable. I liked "The Wedding Bed," "Good Men," and "Dora on the Beach." The Guy not Taken is not the best short-story collection I've read, but it's good for an afternoon read and Jennifer Weiner has a great deal of wit and her writing is always fun. Enjoy.

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Pretty good

In these eleven short stories, Weiner tells stories of falling in love and falling out of love. The themes seem to be: children, divorce, the east coast, and Judaism. Although the short stories tell about the lives of different characters, many of them are experiencing similar life stages, emotions, or complications.

Quote: "He's sat across from girls like that in high school . . . laughing loudly and drinking too much and leaving with the first guy who'd whisper the word beautiful."

I liked this collection more than I thought I would- I'm not usually a huge fan of short stories, since I feel like I'm abandoning the characters just after getting to know what they're about. This group of stories was pretty entertaining and showed a variety of lives and emotions, and how the same general situations can be interpreted differently by different people.

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Reheated Leftovers

While it's still fun to read tales of love lost and found, especially in the hands of a master like Weiner, we've heard many of these tales before ("oafish" big sister victimized by the sexy younger sis, the slacker boyfriend who can't deal with growing up, the young mother who obsesses over her lost life). Add to that the continuing theme of escape from reality via swimming throughout the collection, and it feels like we've read all of these before.

If you don't mind reruns, you'll like this collection of vintage Weiner. If you're looking for fresh meat, look elsewhere.

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

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