Good in Bed

By: Jennifer Weiner

Narrated by: Laura Hicks

Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Cannie Shapiro never wanted to be famous. The smart, sharp, plus-sized pop culture reporter was perfectly content writitng about other people's lives in the pages of the Philadlphia Examiner. But the day she opened up a national women's magazine to find out that her ex-boyfriend has been chronicling their ex-sex life is the day her life changes forever.

Loving a larger woman is an act of courage in our world, Bruce has written. And Cannie - who never knew that Bruce saw her as a larger woman, or thought that loving her was an act of courage - is plunged into misery, and into the most amazing year of her life.

Radiant with wit, bursting with surprises, and written with bite and bittersweet humor, Jennifer Weiner reaches beyond Cannie's story and into the heart of every woman. Gut-level real and laugh-out-loud funny, Good in Bed celebrates the courage of the human spirit and features an unbelievably funny cast of supporting characters, the strangest dog you'll ever encounter, and a heroine you'll never forget.

©2001 Jennifer Weiner (P)2012 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"Funny, zippy, and unflinchingly honest, Good In Bed is a powerhouse debut for Jennifer Weiner. I consumed this extra-large portion of a book in one sitting, rooting for Cannie the heroine and willing horrible atrocities on her ex-boyfriend. Some big surprises kept the pages flying; I grinned the whole way through. Good In Bed can only be described as deeply satisfying." (Valerie Frankel Author of Smart vs. Pretty)

"[Good in Bed's] Cannie emerges as one of the most engaging realistic female characters in years...Weiner's smoothly written novel is stuffed with dialogue that rings with humor and truth." ( Entertainment Weekly)

This book touched me!

I recognized myself in this book. I think any woman would recognize herself in this book. Women just don't like their bodies for the most part. I've never known any woman who accepts her body completely for her own unique self. We always want to change something. I don't have a body like the heroine of this book. But, no matter how much I change it one way or another, I'm never completely satisfied. This book awakened something in me and I cried. I know it sounds hokey. Maybe it is. But, it made me think about myself and want to expand myself in whatever way I can and look outside my own self image. I am special! I count!

Will Not Disappoint!

This is a wonderful empowering story about a young woman who finds herself. Canny is a fantastic heroine that proves to herself, and the reader, that we are all beautiful just as we are.

Great Story reads by an Awful Narrator

Love the story. Love everything that Jen Weiner writes!! But the narrator was just horrible! She mispronounced so many common words that it started disrupting from the story trying to listen to her.

Good Premise

The concept for the book was great. Love the person you are in the body you are given. The story seemed to really drag on about the Bruce thing, come on Cany. ..let it go already. Overall, it was a nice light read.

Depressing at times

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

Yes, it was good and entertaining, but at times depressing. The beginning of the book was light and funny but then as it went on it got heavier.

Pretty Serious Stuff....

If you could sum up Good in Bed in three words, what would they be?

Emotional, heavy, well-written

Who was your favorite character and why?

I feel that it's kind of important to like the main charater (which I did) in order to even finish a book, but Maxie was my favorite charater. She's a good friend and a genuine person inspite of her profession and the living in the impossible world of Hollywood.

Have you listened to any of Laura Hicks’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I haven't, but she was really good! Her performance was dry, which was perfect for Canny's charater. She did an excellent job with her charater voices.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were alot of moving moments in this book. This story provoked alot of emotion for me, I laughed, cried (well ok, not actually cried), it made me angry, and suprised me. Yes there were a few twists and turns, some "I didn't see that coming" yet I felt a bit misguided by the synopsis and felt the other reviews left out alot about the general feeling of this book.

I personally did not find this book lighthearted or funny (in general), it was a very emotional book, a story about one woman's struggle with how to deal with her abondment issues, her struggle with her body image, and finding love and lasting joy. Canny has a dry witty, sarcastic sence of humor, she has many amusing "one liners" that contributes to the humor in this story, but I would NOT consider this to be a funny book (which is what I was looking for). Yet that didn't didn't keep me from enjoying this story, it's well written, although as another reviewer said, there is quite a long build up; right around chapter 7 I found myself considering if I wanted to continue with the story, and I'm glad I did. I found myself really caring for all the charaters (ok so not so much Bruce or "The Pusher") and really got sucked in. Not a perfect ending, some issues were left unresolved, so I'll say it was an upbeat, positive, realistic ending.

Any additional comments?

I feel that if a story provokes strong emotion in you (good or bad) then the author has done their job. This is just such a story. Yet we all have our reasons for reading fiction. I personally gravitate to stories about the fantastic and magical or lighthearted funny, so this was definatly outside what I usually enjoy so I have mixed feelings about this story. If you enjoy Lifetime movies (I'm esp. thinking about the Drop Dead Diva series) then you'd like this story.

Amusing, sympathetic and instructive

Would you listen to Good in Bed again? Why?

I have listened to this book and its sequel, "A Certain Girl" twice now. I love the character Cannie and the sympathetic approach to large women Jennifer Weiner provides. The instruction for me is the description of Jewish traditions in a very understandable way.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Now, this is hard. Cannie would be my favorite with close behind Maxie and Peter.

What does Laura Hicks bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She does the different voices clear so you know who is speaking but not distracting. Great narrator for this book and its sequel.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. Definitely

Narration ruined the book.

I am a huge Jennifer Weiner fan.
I will try my best and try to finish it. But it'll be a struggle.
I can't stand this narration.
I listen to a lot of audio books and this is one of the worst.

Awesome!

This story is funny, heartbreaking, compelling, and honest. I found myself laughing out loud! The main character is hilarious and sad at the same time. It was such a good read, I didn’t want it to end. The narrator is excellent!

I loved every minute of this book!

I started to listen to Goodnin bed on 5/15/20, it captured me, I listened every free moment! I finished on 5/17/20! If I hadn't joined audible it would have taken me years to finish! Being a single Jewish Mom I could relate to everything! The book was great ,and the narrator Laura Hicks was superb! I am starting another book Big Summer next and then all of Jennifer Weiner's books after!