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Jennifer Weiner

I put off reading "Mrs. Everything," by Jennifer Weiner, because the thought made me feel guilty. Weiner seems to have a "lightweight" reputation, and even though I'd really liked "Good in Bed," I was feeling snobby...I'm so glad I silenced the inner snob and borrowed "Mrs. Everything" from the library.

Weiner has a great gift for inventing likable, troubled protagonists and throwing them into dramatic situations. You don't spend chapter upon chapter in plotless "inner" scenarios; you're thrown into high-stakes scenes, and bad, shocking things happen. "Mrs. Everything" follows two sisters through the sixties and onward: One represses her lesbianism in a foolish (and understandable) heterosexual union, and the other struggles with food after having been assaulted at a big party.

Both sisters make unwise choices; both seem like people you could befriend, or even people you could become.

Sometimes, Weiner is too "pat": A family showdown feels a bit too much like a scene from a Julia Roberts movie, and a different conflict ends too predictably (and absurdly) with a new wedding gown getting dumped in a swimming pool. But that's a small issue. Mostly, the writing is really fun.

Another plus of spending "book time" with Weiner: You might get interested in her website, which has smart writing advice. Weiner says: Skip the MFA and get a job, and not a job in publishing. She says: Write to please yourself, and not other people. I admire Weiner's pragmatism and her willingness to be controversial. (And I'd direct you, also, to her recent NYT essay: "Why Did It Feel Good to See Trump Booed at the World Series?" Just the question alone--something I hadn't thought to ask, as I gleefully watched the booing--just the question is the sign of an unusual mind, and, if you're a reader, the question is one more reason to feel excited about the complex, puzzling, messy world.)

OK, that's all. Try "Mrs. Everything" .....
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