The Guy Not Taken: Stories
by Jennifer Weiner
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jennifer WeinerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-06-26
ISBN: 0743298055
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Washington Square Press
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Book Reviews of The Guy Not Taken: Stories
Book Review: Great Storytelling
Summary: 5 Stars
Like many others mentioned in their reviews, I am not a short-story fan specifically. However, I enjoyed this book and would read it again. In fact, I've come to realize that a collection of stories (especially when grouped together by theme) is excellent reading for someone without hours of time to devote to completing a novel, or someone who devotes her time to pursuits other than reading (be it TV or housework, both of which I can easily give up if a book is beckoning).
What made this even more enticing is that the first three stories feature the same characters, making it read almost like a seventy-six page novella. By the time you get through those stories, you'll be hooked. The fact that they all deal with a guy--taken or not taken as the case may be--and I think that most if not all of them also feature swimming, binds them together in another way. The strongest tie is that they are all written by Jennifer Weiner, an excellent storyteller.
Several stories and characters will remain with me. My favorite is "The Mother's Hour," which deals with a playgroup and an unlikely friendship between two women. "Oranges from Florida" is the most different from the others, most obviously because it's written from a male character's point of view, but in it's unique voice and theme, it stands out. The story for which the collection is named, "The Guy Not Taken," will be going into movie production soon. I think that most of us have mused about what our life might be like if we ended up with a different guy (I say mused, not wished). Marlie explores the reality of this fantasy and is actually able to see "what if."
I read her first novel when it first came out, but then she dropped off my radar screen. I will be reading more.
Summary of The Guy Not Taken: Stories
Jennifer Weiner's talent shines like never before in this collection of short stories, following the tender, often hilarious, progress of love and relationships over the course of a lifetime.We meet Marlie Davidow, home alone with her new baby late one night, when she wanders onto her ex's online wedding registry and wonders what if she had wound up with the guy not taken. We find Jessica Norton listing her beloved river-view apartment in the hope of winning her broker's heart. And we follow an unlikely friendship between two very different new mothers, and the choices that bring them together -- and pull them apart.
The Guy Not Taken demonstrates Weiner's amazing ability to create characters who "feel like they could be your best friend" (Janet Maslin) and to find hope and humor, longing and love in the hidden corners of our common experiences.
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