I gave Weiner a chance. I totally think you raise some valid points but I just think that even within her genre she is completely overrated. And it's not the themes she's writing about that I'm dismissive of, it's her writing and the books themselves. Take a writer like Barbara Trapido, who's not very well known in…

I think that's true to some degree but I think there's a difference between having the genius to be able to revisit the same themes in a way that shows there's some kind of evolution in your creative process, and the ones who kind of get stuck revisiting but don't take those themes to new places.

I'll check him out. I don't have anything against YA or children's books, some of them can be read at any age.

Not yet! A Visit From the Goon Squad is sitting on a pile of about 8 books that I have been meaning to read and for some reason I end up reading other books instead, usually because I forget to take them with me when I'm traveling for work (which is often and when I do most of my reading) and end up buying something…

I agree he shouldn't be treated more harshly because he's high profile but the law is fucked up if he was treated the way the average first time offender is treated after knocking his fiancée out the way he did. That wasn't shoving or a couple that were both going at it and the guy ended up being the one arrested…

Thanks.

Agree about the word "mistake".

You're right. But still, none of these men can ever escape their scandals. Pretty much every in depth article about Sean Penn mentions the fact that he beat Madonna up in 1987. And this after she's publicly forgiven him. He's got a reputation for being an angry asshole. It helps that he's ridiculously talented and…

Why wasn't he prosecuted? Was it because his wife declined to press charges? I don't even know what state the beating took place in but maybe they don't have mandatory charges for domestic abuse? I know some places do and in others, nothing will be pursued if the victim doesn't choose to press charges.

I don't think anyone is ever forgiven by everyone, regardless of race. Ray Rice could return to the NFL and have a career again but you can be sure that a lot of people, including most of Jezebel, will never forgive him. John Galliano is designing again but not at the same level that he was before the scandal, and the…

I enjoy Hornby. He writes good characters and he's got good taste in music lol but I wouldn't say he's considered exact highbrow either. But he very ably straddles that line between entertaining and easy to read but well written enough that I don't want to stab myself in the eyes. If put him in the same category as…

Right... because clearly I'm the only commenter on Jezebel who isn't writing under her own name.

Mistry and Desai are fantastic. Never read Bond but he's going on my just, thanks!

Irving will always have a place in my heart but let's be honest, he kind of writes the same book over and over again. Still, I adore Owen Meany and Until I find you. Love Pynchon too.

He's totally an ass, he's one of those incredibly talented people I never want to meet, I'm happy to just read his books. I couldn't make it through his memoir. But his novels are wonderful. Over ten years after reading The Corrections, it's never left me. He is a superb writer.

Have you read Delillo's "White Noise"? It's instantly readable and accessible, and will help you get into his other books. And it's very funny.

She's on my list. But so are Jonathan Franzen, Joan Didion, Donna Tartt, Don Delillo, and a few others.

So sexism is the reason Jennifer Weiner hasn't been nominated for a Pulitzer yet? Suuuuure...

That place is the same place that McDonalds and 5 Guys have in the culinary world. Fast food vs. cuisine. Not the same thing. There's what you eat when you're hungover and want greasy salty bad for you crap that gives you temporary satisfaction, and then there's that incredible 5 course tasting menu that you'll…

Agree. I never denied that sexism in the writing world isn't a problem. Just that Weiner is the worst possible spokeswoman for it and also because sexism isn't the reason she hasn't gotten her Pulitzer nomination yet.