Good in bed
Good in bed is the first novel of author Jennifer Weiner and appeared in the United States in 2001 . The novel was first published in Germany in 2002. The novel is about an overweight Jewish journalist , her love life, her work and the emotionally traumatizing events with her father.
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Candace (Cannie) Shapiro is a smart, sarcastic, and successful journalist. She writes a regular column and lives in Philadelphia . Cannie has a small circle of friends that include her best friend Samantha, her presumptuous but caring mother, and her little rat Terrier Nifkin. Even so, Cannie is overweight every day and her boyfriend ends the three-year relationship. In addition, Cannie still suffers from her father leaving the family when she was a child.
One day, Cannie reads an article from her ex-boyfriend Bruce in a magazine. He writes about his views on how to love an overweight woman, he calls this woman "C". Outraged and hurt, Cannie contacts Bruce in hopes of getting answers to the article. But she makes matters worse when she loses her temper and he replies that their relationship is over forever.
A few weeks later, Cannie learns that Bruce's father has died and she appears at the funeral to express her condolences, hoping to possibly get in touch with Bruce again. On the night of the funeral, Cannie and Bruce have sex, and Cannie believes that she and Bruce could get back together. But Bruce hurts her again when he confesses that he has already met another woman and that he and Cannie shouldn't see each other again.
Cannie tries to forget Bruce and decides to get her life under control again. She takes part in a diet program, enjoys her job and tries to get the script she wrote to a producer in Hollywood . During an interview in New York , Cannie befriends British actress Maxi Ryder. Cannie decides to give Maxi her script.
She meets the head of her diet program, Dr. K., and discusses their position in the program with him. But Dr. K. informs her that she is not suitable for the program. At first, Cannie is frustrated, but Dr. K. informs her that she is pregnant.
Cannie realizes that she got pregnant by Bruce when they had sex during his father's funeral. She plays with the idea of aborting the child and wonders whether to tell Bruce about the pregnancy. Eventually she decides to have the child and sends Bruce a message telling him about the pregnancy and asking him if he would like to play an active role in the child's life. Since Bruce doesn't reply to the message, Cannie decides to raise the child on her own.
Months go by and Cannie is looking forward to the birth of her child and enjoying life to the fullest. She gets along well with her friends and comes to Dr. Closer to K., whom she now calls Peter. Maxi tells Cannie that she was able to forward Cannie's script to producers in Hollywood and that they would like to produce it, so Cannie flies to Los Angeles.
Cannie lives with Maxi in Hollywood and accompanies her to exclusive parties. In Los Angeles she meets one day her father Larry, who works as a plastic surgeon. Cannie confronts him and asks why he left the family when she was a child and needed him. But her father disappears without an answer. She is considering moving to Los Angeles, but discards the idea and returns to Philadelphia.
Back in Philadelphia, she sees Bruce, accompanied by his new girlfriend, at the airport. She speaks briefly to him and his unfriendly girlfriend and is then followed to the bathroom by Bruce's girlfriend. There is a brief argument between the two women, whereupon Cannie slips on a puddle of water and bumps her stomach on the sink and loses consciousness.
In the hospital she wakes up confused and her friends tell her that everything will be fine, but that she cannot have any more children. Because of the accident, the doctors had to perform a hysterectomy . Their newborn daughter Joy was born prematurely and has to stay in hospital for a few more weeks, but is otherwise unharmed.
As a result of what happened, Cannie fell into deep depression and pushed her family and friends away. She keeps walking around town for a long time and hardly eats anything to lose weight. During a long walk through town, she gets lost, but finds Peter's office, who takes care of her immediately. Cannie realizes how irresponsible she is acting and Peter admits that he feels a lot for her.
When Joy is released from the hospital, Cannie decides to move in with her homosexual mother and her partner. They both help Cannie as best they can. Cannie and Peter make a date and she makes peace with herself and life again. She moves back into her apartment and Peter asks her if she would move in with him. Eventually Cannie decides to go to the magazine Bruce wrote his column about her in and introduces himself as "C". She is then offered Bruce's former position and writes her own column in his place.
Background information
The book shows some parallels to the author Jennifer Weiner. Like Cannie's parents, Weiner's parents divorced when she was 16, and her mother came out gay at age 55. Weiner also worked as a journalist and wrote columns.
Book editions
- Good in bed. Translated from the English by Manuela Thurner. Goldmann, 2002. ISBN 978-3442450473