Feeling Short

The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner
I've never been a huge fan of short stories, I think because the only time I've ever read them was for school. For that reason, I was hesitant to pick up Jennifer Weiner's short story collection. I probably never would have, except it was lent to me by a friend, so I figured why not.

I shouldn't have been so suspicious. Everything I've read by Jennifer Weiner I've enjoyed, so it shouldn't be a surprise that I enjoyed this. Except of course, that it was. There were a few familiar characters from her novels which was nice. Interesting as well, considering the short story was written before the novel. There's also a few stories about the same characters, but most are completely independent.

I had originally thought that there would be a theme to all the stories, but again another surprise. There were common ideas, for example divorce is discussed in several and most of the characters are Jewish, but these are common themes throughout Jennifer Weiner's book in general.

I can't say this completely turned me on to short story collection, in that I'd like to read more soon. But I can say I am glad I read this, and it did exceed my expectations.

4/5