This book surprised me: It features a heroine who makes dumb decisions because of a guy and is obsessed with her weight -- pretty much the standard, annoying chick lit heroine. Yet Cannie Shapiro, journalist and would-be screenwriter, manages to be charming, thanks to Weiner's wit. This is the first chick lit I've read in eons where the jokes didn't fall flat, where the dialogue wasn't awkward, and actually provided a little more meat and conflict to the drama.

Candace Shapiro's two banes are closely entwined: her love of food and distrust of men. The latter began when Cannie's distant dad took off in her teen years, described in a mature, heartbreaking chapter. From there, her life is thrown into turmoil. Her mother comes out and installs her girlfriend in Cannie's old room. Her relationship with longtime boyfriend Bruce blows up and, in revenge, he writes a column for a women's magazine about loving a larger woman, with lots of intimate details about her life revealed for all to read. While Cannie pines and suffers, she hold on to the positives in her life, mainly her friends and her dream of selling her film script. While her love life and body image issues continue to plague her, the constants of her friendships and talent remain strong, even during a crisis where she almost loses sight of both.

While this book is a better take on the chick lit genre, it is by no means revolutionary, just written better. Cannie has the benefit of incredible luck to pull her through: she befriends a Hollywood starlet, who showers her with generosity, and she actually passes along a film script to this actress and gets it turned into a movie. In her most darkest hour she is still well cared for by family and friends -- not many people have that benefit. And, of course, her love life: Love finds her where she leasts expects it in a way that may suspend belief. While everything changes for the better, Cannie stays physically the same as she was in the beginning of the book; too many chick lit writers will give their heroines makeovers and weight loss to complete their characters' paths to improvement. Weiner took care that any weight loss of Cannie's was seen as a sign of distress, not improvement. The heroine at her happiest is full-figured and confident.

Readers from the Philadelphia area will appreciate the name-dropping of local eateries and culinary landmarks, but it might be a bit much for non-local readers. It does, however, capture Center City Philadelphia at its best and most idealistic. ( )

2006 ( )

This is the first "chick-lit" I've ever read, but I think I'm going to have to look up Jennifer Weiner's other books. It was funny and engaging, but also thought-provoking. As a "larger woman," it was painful to read parts of this book. I never had the misfortune of such a cruel and unloving father as Cannie, but still she is very reminiscent of how I once was. It was difficult to look back at the old me reflected through a fictional character - the obsession over body-image, the low self-esteem, the utter resignation to the "fact" that no man could ever find me attractive because of my weight. I also saw her desperate need for male companionship and acceptance, which is common among women of all sizes.

It made me sad because I know that a lot of women feel the same way, but also because I've moved on with my life. I'm no longer at the "without a boyfriend I'm worthless" stage of my life, which was a hard thing to move through. In a way I thought the ending was a tad too saccharine, but I felt satisfied at the end that the main things that got her through were by her own hand: her wit, her screenplay (which she wrote for herself and no one else), and her friends (which seemed more like genuine companions than a mere cheering section). It pleased me that while Dr. K was nice to have around, she didn't absolutely need him, which I think was the most important message of all: sure, certain men might not want anything to do with you because you're not thin, but there's a lot more to life than romance. ( )

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Awesome book! If there were more books written like this, there would be so many fewer women with low self esteem because of their weight. There are so many romance novels written out there (NOT saying this was a romance novel at all) that describe the woman as beautiful, petite and with a waist so small "he can circle it with his brawny hands". As a girl reading romance novels, it really makes you think that that is how you need to look to get these men to fall head over heels for you and romance you. If you don't look like that, you begin to wonder if maybe that is why men don't treat you that way. Great book, I totally related and being from the Philadelphia area too, I absolutely loved it! ( )