'In Her Shoes'

Jennifer weiner’s “In Her Shoes” is an enjoyable piece of female-oriented literature.

There is love, marriage, sister drama, hints of old-people sex — enough to keep me entertained for 500 pages. Still, I’d recommend the movie for those who don’t have hours to spend worrying about the strength of sisterly love.

“In Her Shoes” tells the story of Rose and Maggie. Rose is the successful older sister, a lawyer, yet she struggles with her weight and attracting a man. Maggie is the problem sister. She cannot hold a job, struggles with a learning disability and takes advantage of everyone. Still, she’s gorgeous, with a fabulous taste in clothing and extreme sex appeal. When Maggie moves in with Rose, she begins to screw up Rose’s life in every way imaginable. Then, she actually screws Rose’s boyfriend and boss, Jim. Rose breaks down and kicks Maggie out.

Maggie decides her best course of action is to hide out at Princeton. Since Weiner actually attended Princeton (Class of 1991), her depiction is quite accurate. Maggie says of the girls of Princeton, “Evidently ... grooming was not a priority for these women, while purchasing the fashions of Abercrombie & Fitch was. None wore much more than lip gloss, and they were arrayed in ... washed-out jeans, sweaters or sweatshirts, camel-colored overcoats ...” This is mostly true today, though many girls do enjoy pampering themselves, and J.Crew (referenced later in the novel) is probably a better representation of the Princeton look.

Maggie also mocks a few Princeton girls after one suggests it’s a good idea to call a guy who has expressed no interest (hitting a little too close to home for me). Maggie ends up stashing away on the C-floor of an accurately described Firestone (not too difficult to pull off). She later easily sneaks into classes and steals lunches from the dining halls and events with free food. She happily lives out her spring semester until an angry male Princetonian/rapist (who, of course, has a keg in his room) she stole from finds her and she is forced to flee campus.

To make a long story short, Weiner accurately depicts how to get a Princeton education without even applying/paying tuition/working yourself to death in high school and why no one should go home with a man with a keg in his room. Of course, there is a noticeable absence of eating clubs — I guess the only problem with stowing away at Princeton is that they won’t let you in their doors.