LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE HERE:
My guest on The Shift with Sam Baker podcast today is the bestselling American novelist Jennifer Weiner.
I first encountered
When her debut novel, Good In Bed, was thrust into my hands by someone I worked with on Company magazine. It was the first time I’d ever read a mainstream novel whose lead character was a fat woman who didn’t need fixing. Good in Bed was a smash hit on both sides of the atlantic, but for some reason it has taken until now to make its way to the big screen… it’s currently being adapted by HBO, starring Mindy Kaling.Jen followed that up with In Her Shoes which was also made into a movie, starring Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette and Shirley Maclaine. And since then she’s written 15 more novels, and an essay collection, asa well as a column for the New York Times.
Who, profits from this? Who wins from this idea that in order to be a middle-aged woman existing in the world, you can only be so large and you can't have any wrinkles and you've gotta be doing workouts and using this injectables, and even then we're only gonna let a couple of you show up in public
Like
and Marian Keyes, Jen has an unerring talent for being able to make you laugh and cry and nod in recognition all on the very same page.Her latest, The Griffin Sister’s Greatest Hits, is another surefire hit, tackling sisterhood, our relationships with our bodies, how we’re endlessly judged on our looks and the way the world - and the music industry - treats women.
Jen joined me from home in Philadelphia to talk so much good stuff. We discussed Trump, Nora Ephron, body image, ageing, her mum coming out, wishing she had her daughter’s boundaries, why she loves writing middle aged women and so much more.
Listen to the full episode here:
Interested in finding out more about the books recommended by the guests on The Shift podcast? Visit The Shift bookshop to see a full list.
• If you enjoyed this episode, you might like to know that there are over 240 more episodes, all free to listen. Here are a few you might like:
Share this post