The Next Best Thing: A Novel

by Jennifer Weiner

Olivia Thirlby (Narrator)

Blockbuster #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner returns with an irresistible story about a young woman trying to make it in Hollywood…

At three years old, Ruth Saunders miraculously survives the car crash that takes her parents’ lives on the icy Massachusetts Turnpike. Her eccentric grandmother, who comes out of Florida retirement to care for young Ruth, nurtures her through years of surgeries, feeding her home-cooked meals, dispensing irreverent wisdom, and telling Ruth she’s beautiful, even though her scars will stay with her forever.

After college, Ruth pursues her dream of writing to Hollywood, heading west with her grandmother in tow, hoping to make it big in the world of TV. After years of failure and a badly broken heart, Ruth gets The Call—her show has been green-lit.

But Ruth’s happy ending is only the beginning, as she struggles with how television gets made: terrified (and terrifying) executives and actresses with their eyes on bigger prizes than Ruthie’s show. Add in an unrequited crush on the man who has been her mentor. Add to that her grandmother’s impending nuptials, and Ruth’s big break might just break her.

A rollicking ride on the Hollywood roller coaster, The Next Best Thing is a heartfelt story about a young woman searching for her own happily-ever-after in the land where dreams come true.

• ISBN10: 1442348917
• ISBN13: 9781442348912
• Publish Date: 3 July 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Edition: Unabridged
• Format: Audiobook
• Duration: 12 hours and 1 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[ibeforem]

I had mixed feelings about this book.

On one hand, I really wanted to like Ruth. I related to her close relationship with her grandmother (I spent at least 25% of my time living with my great-grandmother until I graduated high school), and I sympathized with the difficulties her disfigurement caused her (because we all know a Jennifer Weiner protagonist has to be “damaged” in some way). But that was pretty much it. I didn’t love her, and I feel like I only rooted for her because the author told me to.

The book has its good points. The peek inside the world of sitcom production was enlightening (if at all accurate), and I enjoyed Ruth’s attempts at managing her cast. I also really liked the Two Daves, if you remove the parts of that storyline that were wrapped up a little too conveniently (*cough* Dave’s girlfriend *cough*). But there was entirely too much foreshadowing in the construction of the story. I wish it had been told more linearly, so I could be surprised when disaster came, rather than reading the equivalent of “so, that didn’t exactly work out, here’s what happened”.

Was it a triumphant ending? Eh, yes and no. Overall, the book was good enough, but not great. Kinda like Ruth’s sitcom.

[Linda]

*I got a free copy from the publisher via netgalley in order to review this book*

This and other reviews can be found on my blog(un)Conventional Bookviews.

The Next Best Thing is simply delightful! It’s the only word I can use to describe it accurately. It tickled my funny bones, tugged at my heartstrings and made me root for Ruthie from the first sentence. All of the main characters seem so real to me that I wish they existed in real life. Ruthie needs a girlfriend, and I want to be that for her.

[Leah]

It’s taken me a while to really see why so many are fans of Jennifer Weiner, but I’m pleased to report I finally get it. Having struggled through Best Friends Forever and Fly Away Home, I’ve found her last two books to be a marked improvement. I really enjyoyed Then Came You and have just finished her most recent novel The Next Best Thing, which is what I’m reviewing today. I don’t know how or why, but something has finally clicked with myself and Ms Weiner and I’m so pleased to be able to say I really enjoy her books now and that The Next Best Thing was a really, really good read.

What I liked best about The Next Best Thing is that it’s set in the television world. You get lots of books set around TV shows and movies and the LA Hollywood scene, but you don’t get many set on someone who isn’t an actor/actress in Hollywood and that sets the book apart as Ruth Saunders is a writer. A writer whose show The Next Best Thing has just been picked up. Cue excitement, and happiness, as she sees her show come to life… Until it starts getting picked apart and patched up by the network and any amount of producers and people related to the network. I loved reading how Ruth’s idea turned from something she was so proud of to something she barely recognised as she was trumped at every turn. It sounds wrong to say I loved reading it, actually, but I know what I mean. If anyone knows how to write TV it’s Weiner who had a show State of Georgia air a year or so ago so if anyone knows about the backstabbing and the feuds and the changes that get made to a show, it’s Weiner and she writes it beautifully.

The characters in the novel are really great. I loved Ruth, facial scars and all, and I was mighty impressed with how she handled herself throughout the novel. I loved how passionate she was about her show (as you would be, obviously) and I adored her relationship with her Grandmother, who raised her since she was three years old. Her Grandmother is the coolest Grandmother ever. I’m not even joking. She moved to LA with Ruth and became an extra (and with massive success, too! Starring in Cougar Town and other shows!) and you will never meet a prouder Grandmother in the world. I’m not even joking. Their relationship is just fabulous to read and to see their ups and downs just leaves you rooting for them two constantly.

I really enjoyed The Next Best Thing. I liked the insight into a television show’s writer’s room. I liked that when Ruth was stressed or just needed a break from life, she went swimming. I liked Big Dave and Little Dave, who employ Ruth before she gets her big break with The Next Best Thing. The only downside was the rather open ending (an oxymoron if ever there was one!). It was finished, don’t get me wrong, but it also left space for a possible second book or a short story or something, which I’ll admit is perfectly fine with me. I really enjoyed the book. It was an excellent read with excellent characters and I am really looking forward to Weiner’s next novel, that’s for sure.