The Guy Not Taken

Stories

De: Jennifer Weiner

Narrado por: Mary Catherine Garrison, Jordan Bridges

Jennifer Weiner's talent shines like never before in this collection of short stories, following the tender, and often hilarious, progress of love and relationships over the course of a lifetime. From a teenager coming to terms with her father's disappearance to a widow accepting two young women into her home, Weiner's 11 stories explore those transformative moments in our every day.

We meet Marlie Davidow, home alone with her new baby late one Friday 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 stumble upon Good in Bed's Bruce Guberman, liquored-up and ready for anything on the night of his best friend's bachelor party, until stealing his girlfriend's tiny rat terrier becomes more complicated than he'd planned. We find Jessica Norton listing her beloved New York City 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.

©2006 Jennifer Weiner. All rights reserved. (P)2006 Simon and Schuster Inc. All rights reserved

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Weiner has a brilliant eye for social stratum, character sketches, and renderings of suburban atmospherics." (The Washington Post Book World)
"Hilarious, heartbreaking, and insightful, Weiner shows she can write with exquisite tenderness as well as humor." (The Miami Herald)
"A wonderful, natural writer and storyteller, Weiner renders her characters and their messy, sometimes wrenching lives in details that resonate as the real deal...smart, lovable, and mordantly funny." (Publishers Weekly)

disappointing

love jennifers books but was extremely disappointed in this one. maybe it was the reader but had to rewind so many times just to understand. sorry jennifer

Worth a try

The same cast of characters inhabit these stories as well as Weiner's novels. The writer with the selfish sister, the writer with housing issues, fertility seekers.

Jennifer W. can write up a storm. This book is entertaining, but I did not care for the
narrator. Too nasal, too thin a voice, sort of teenagery.

Real Life Stories

I really liked the stories! They weren't over-the-top romantic or dramatic, the characters & their stories/situations were ones you find in real life.

I love her, but...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I think I felt lost during most of this book. After listening to it all, I think that it is compiled of a lot of lost loves in books that I may not have read. I remember some of the stories that were related to some of the characters but others - I was totally lost on who they were, how they knew each other and their back story. If you are a Jennifer Weiner buff and have read/listened to all of her books, you may really enjoy this book!

Did Mary Catherine Garrison, and Jordan Bridges do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

I think they characters were all well played and separate, however I just felt lost during some stories because I had no idea who they were or any back story.

Dissapointing

I was expecting more. I'm in my 40's maybe the stories were just a bit juvinile for my taste. I found the narrator's voice to be annoying and whiny through the entire book.

Loved it, but confused by

I am a huge Jennifer Weiner fan and this collection of short stories did not disappoint. My only complaint is that this audio edition is considered "unabridged" yet this weekend I was in a bookstore and picked up the hardcover copy of this book to see if there were any author's notes (there are) or anything else not in the audio edition. I was stunned to discover three more stories after "The Mommy Hour" (the last story on the audio) that are in the book and not in the audiobook. So I ended up purchasing the book so I could read those three stories. Even without this discovery, though, I was very satisfied by this collection and would highly recommend it to any Jennifer Weiner fan. (And then spend a Sunday afternoon in your local bookstore reading the author's notes and the missing stories). The female reader is excellent. I loved her vocal interpretation of nearly every character.

Now There's an Hour I'll Never Get Back

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Maybe a teenager might like this book, but as for myself, it was painful to listen to. The story just droned on about what a spoiled and nasty little brat one of the characters is. I had to turn it off after an hour of listening.

Has The Guy Not Taken turned you off from other books in this genre?

To be honest, I'm not sure what genre this is. It was one of the recommendations that pop up when I was searching books. The sound bite sounded pretty good. But wow, was I ever diappointed.

What does Mary Catherine Garrison and Jordan Bridges bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narrators did a fine job. It was the story that was bad.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Guy Not Taken?

I would have turned it into a 500 word essay.

Any additional comments?

Don't waste your money or credits on this book.

Not worth the money

I enjoyed the first story but that was it. The second story was a condensed version of "Good in Bed". I turned it off after the beginning of the next one which featured "horny" (quote unquote) men, a stripper, and marijuana. No thank you. Just not my taste in books.

Great Stories - An Entertaining Listen

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. The stories themselves kept my attention - I was able to get "into the head" of each and every character and couldn't put down my ipod. The stories were long enough for full character and plot development, but not too long. What really made this audiobook was the narration. I absolutely loved Mary Catherine Garrison's reading - each and every character's lines were fully developed and read with total expression. I found myself laughing out loud constantly. Unlike one of the other reviewers, I thought her voice was perfect for the character ages and actually was disappointed to see this is the only audiobook she has done.

Highly recommended - 2 thumbs up!

Fantastic!

I thoroughly enjoyed all of the stories in this book. This was a great read!