Weiner, Jennifer
Born: March 28, 1970, in De Ridder, Louisiana
Vocations: Novelist, Columnist, Journalist, Contributing Editor, Critic, Short Story Writer, Poet
Geographic Connection to Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Philadelphia County; State College, Centre County
Keywords: Academy of American Poets Prize; Centre Daily Times; Good in Bed; Goodnight Nobody; In Her Shoes; Little Earthquakes; Princeton University; Pocket/Atria Books
Abstract: Jennifer Weiner was born on March 28, 1970, in De Ridder, Louisiana, and not soon after moved to Simsbury, Connecticut, with her family. She graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University, where she achieved the Academy of American Poets Prize and majored in English. She quickly moved on as a reporter for the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pennsylvania, and wrote twice monthly columns on Generation X for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Her first novel, Good in Bed, was published in 2001, followed the next year by In Her Shoes, which is now a major motion picture. Her third novel, Little Earthquakes, has been bought by Universal and she recently released a fourth novel called Goodnight Nobody.
Biography:
“How you live your life and what you think of yourself is more important than your body size,” affirms author Jennifer Weiner. “Remember, they don’t put your body weight on your tombstone.” These simple words are the building blocks of Weiner’s overarching credo, which radiates from each of her four semi-autobiographical books. The newly-crowned hero for plus-size women nationwide is also a best-selling author, current columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and was recently involved in the making of the film In Her Shoes, adapted from her second novel. Weiner’s characters are constantly battling with everything from issues of self-esteem, weight, in-laws, philandering spouses, and of course, to finding love in a crisis-ridden world. Women everywhere find solace in her blunt honesty and sarcastic humor, perhaps seeing a reflection of themselves in the books’ noble heroines. So how did she achieve such roaring success?
It all started in De Ridder, Louisiana, where Jennifer Agnes Weiner was born on an army base on March 28, 1970. After moving to Simsbury, Connecticut, with her family at the age of 2, Weiner proceeded through her schooling with, what she calls, “many unfortunate hair and fashion choices” and graduated from Simsbury High School as the graduation speaker. She moveed on to Princeton University where she achieved the first of many accolades to come, Princeton’s “Academy of American Poets” prize, for her poetry composition. Not surprisingly, she majored in English and completed her thesis on portrayals of maternity in women’s novels and film. Weiner graduated summa cum laude from Princeton and subsequently pursued journalism as a career. After leaving an initial job offer, she took the position of education reporter for the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pennsylvania. This small Knight-Ridder-owned newspaper published Weiner’s column on the Generation X phenomenon twice a month. Soon, her columns were sent out along Knight-Ridder’s news wire and were seen in newspapers throughout the country. Weiner’s short stories also gained momentum when they were published in Seventeen magazine and Redbook.
She began to juggle different journalistic endeavors such as writing features for the Lexington Herald-Leader (in Kentucky ) while also writing two Generation X columns a month for the Philadelphia Inquirer, all of which acquired national readership. Finally, the Philadelphia Inquirer hired her as a general-assignment features reporter and she moved to Philadelphia, where she wrote profiles, short-stories about issues plaguing youth, and various current-events articles. The jobs kept coming, however, as she became a contributing editor for Mademoiselle, writing a monthly column about workplace survival, and made frequent appearances on Philadelphia’s late night TV spot, “Philly After Midnight,” for her witty quips on pop culture and sarcastic critiques of the social world.
Inspiration for her first novel came after a torrid break-up with a boyfriend, which fueled her writing. While developing Good in Bed during her evenings, the Inquirer gave Weiner a spot in the Sunday book section called “Under Cover.” After an arduous search and being rejected by twenty-three out of twenty-five literary agents, who questioned why the main character had to be fat, Pocket Books (now Atria Books) bought Weiner’s first novel and the rights to her second novel. When it was published, Good in Bed and its overweight character, Cannie, received rave reviews across the country in May, 2001. By the end of the month, it made New York Times’ best-seller list. As if she had not achieved enough success thus far, the rights to Good in Bed were sold in fifteen countries worldwide and became an international best-seller. In December, 2001, Weiner left The Philadelphia Inquirer to write full time.
Her second novel, In Her Shoes, published in 2002, gave voice to two sisters living in Philadelphia and their rocky relationship. Rose, the slightly-overweight and uptight reporter, and Maggie, the buxom, beautiful trouble-maker, only have a shoe size in common. Not surprisingly, Rose and Maggie’s dynamic came partially from Weiner’s relationship with her own sister. The acclaim Weiner received for her second book skyrocketed when Hollywood bought the rights to In Her Shoes and stars Toni Collette and Cameron Diaz signed on to the project. In Her Shoes, directed by Curtis Hanson, was released on October 7, 2005.
Weiner again began to juggle several things at once, composing her third novel, Little Earthquakes, and taking care of newborn daughter (with husband Adam Bonin), Lucy, who arrived on May 10, 2003. Little Earthquakes was published in September of 2004. Not only is it her best-selling novel yet, but it has also been optioned by Universal Pictures. Weiner used this novel as a venue for addressing issues of pregnancy and self-worth in today’s society. Too often, the media idealizes motherhood and creates unattainable expectations for real mothers. Again, her novel is semi-autobiographical and speaks of concerns the author actually dealt with. Weiner’s unforgiving cynicism of the mass media image gives hope and support to millions of women.
Weiner has most recently changed direction with the completion of her new mystery novel, Goodnight Nobody, which was published in September 2005. She tackles the secrets of suburbia and how seeming-perfection can be anything but. While exploring a new genre, Weiner is also speaking of and critiquing her own childhood in Simsbury, Connecticut. For the first time, Weiner takes her main characters out of her adopted hometown of Philadelphia and into an imaginary suburb of the Northeast.
What sets Weiner’s novels apart from the rest of the chick-lit troop is that her main characters do not equate losing weight with happiness and they even end up with the same weight in the end as they began with. In many other novels, the heroine only overcomes her adversity after becoming thin and gaining a boyfriend. Weiner’s novels show that plus-sized women need not only be comic relief or the lonely, depressed characters they have been cornered into. Self-acceptance and life success are themes universal to women, no matter their weight, and as Weiner states, “not only plus-sized women liked the [Good in Bed] book.” Overall, Weiner’s novels strongly advocate being comfortable in one’s own skin. As Weiner said for an article in the Centre Daily Times, “You can have a happy ending even if you don’t look like the girls you see on the sitcoms or in the movies.” As proven by the successful release of her newest novel, Goodnight Nobody, and a new three-novel deal with Atria Books, Jennifer Weiner’s career shows no sign of slowing. Currently, there are over 5 million copies of her books in thirty-three countries around the world.
Works:
Novels
Contributing Editor
Columns/Reporting
Short Stories
Critic
Sources:
This biography was prepared by Ariel Bloom.