When Jennifer Weiner first gave readings, she assumed about 12 people would show up, eight of them women she "knew from Weight Watchers". Weiner was working as a features reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer when she published her first novel Good In Bed in 2001. Soon after, she quit her newspaper job and has since written nine bestselling books.
The American author learnt long ago not just to make peace with fame, but to thrive on it, whether it was tweeting live updates about The Bachelor or fretting about what critics think of her. She doesn't see social media and publicity tours as distractions from her work but as extensions of it, a continuing dialogue between herself and her fans.
“They feel like they know me – and in a way they do,” said the 44-year-old author at a recent book reading in Manhattan. “A lot of times, I feel like I’m talking to a bunch of people I went to summer camp with.”
The author of such bestsellers as Goodnight Nobody and In Her Shoes spoke before about 100 fans eager to learn more about her new novel All Fall Down and to hear the latest from a woman whose stories are in some ways their stories.
They nodded in sympathy when Weiner, the mother of two children, spoke of adjusting her writing time to family life. They have followed her very public campaign to get more women reviewed in The New York Times and other newspapers and magazines and applauded when Weiner revealed that the Times, which had long ignored her work, would be praising All Fall Down.
“She’s very relatable, especially for young women,” said Shira Zeif, 32, a kindergarten teacher. “She gets very personal with her characters and you feel like you know her, too.”
As her followers on Twitter would have already learnt, Weiner has been in a good place. All Fall Down has received strong reviews, with her hometown paper The Philadelphia Inquirer calling it her best, and is in the top 40 on Amazon. The new book, Weiner explained, tells of a woman who seemingly has everything – a big house, a husband and daughter and growing fame as a blogger – yet finds herself increasingly unhappy, hooked on painkillers and is eventually forced to get clean at a rehabilitation centre.
It was a story so wrenching that Weiner dropped her usual happy resolutions for a more ambiguous ending. “You can’t pick up a newspaper or a magazine without the issue slapping you in the face,” said Weiner.
• All Fall Down (Atria Books) is available on Amazon and costs Dh60
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
START-UPS IN BATCH 4 OF SANABIL 500'S ACCELERATOR PROGRAMME
Saudi Arabia
Joy: Delivers car services with affordable prices
Karaz: Helps diabetics with gamification, IoT and real-time data
Medicarri: Medical marketplace that connects clinics with suppliers
Mod5r: Makes automated and recurring investments to grow wealth
Stuck: Live, on-demand language support to boost writing
Walzay: Helps in recruitment while reducing hiring time
UAE
Eighty6: Marketplace for restaurant and supplier procurements
FarmUnboxed: Helps digitise international food supply chain
NutriCal: Helps F&B businesses and governments with nutritional analysis
Wellxai: Provides insurance that enables and rewards user habits
Egypt
Amwal: A Shariah-compliant crowd-lending platform
Deben: Helps CFOs manage cash efficiently
Egab: Connects media outlets to journalists in hard-to-reach areas for exclusives
Neqabty: Digitises financial and medical services of labour unions
Oman
Monak: Provides financial inclusion and life services to migrants
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 10.5L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh129,999 (VX Luxury); from Dh149,999 (VX Black Gold)
The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
Profile Idealz
Company: Idealz
Founded: January 2018
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Size: (employees): 22
Investors: Co-founders and Venture Partners (9 per cent)
