Swim by Jennifer Weiner

Overview from Barnes and Noble:

The short story that inspired Jennifer Weiner’s forthcoming novel The Next Best Thing.

Ruth has left her job writing for a hit television show for reasons she’d rather not discuss and is supplementing her increasingly dwindling savings with freelance writing projects—namely, helping anxious high school students craft a perfect college essay and lonely souls craft captivating online dating profiles. When she’s not working, she’s swimming—lap after lap at the local indoor pool, in a desperate attempt to wash away the sting of professional failure and heartbreak that she can’t seem to shake. It takes an unexpected client to show her that appearances can be deceiving, and that sometimes the bravest thing you can do is simply dive back in.

My thoughts:
I haven't read a Jennifer Weiner book in a few years now.  When I discovered her writing I read four in a row, which was all she had at the time, but somehow I haven't gotten back to her since.  I started this short story in the waiting room of a doctors office and got about halfway through at the time.  When I picked it up again I found I only had a couple more pages to read as the second half is a preview of her new book.  Since I hope to read the new book I skipped reading the preview so I can read it all together when I get the chance.

Ruth is an interesting character and I can see how she would be fun to read about in a full length book.  Hollywood seems so glamorous from a distance, but up close it most likely is not at all what many of us imagine.  Ruth relocates with her grandmother to pursue her dream of writing and gets a job on a television show.  But something happens and she ends up working freelance on her own.  She is hired by parents to help their children with college applications and also approached about helping build profiles for dating websites.  She discoverers that people are not always what they appear to be on the surface, which is a good lesson for all of us.

Product Details

• ISBN-13: 9781451690323
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Publication date: 5/8/2012
• Sold by: SIMON & SCHUSTER
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 48