Author and scribe J. Weiner resides in the city of Philadelphia. Her debut novel saw the light of day in 2001, and the subsequent year witnessed the cinematic adaptation of her sophomore literary work. Two decades hence, Weiner’s literary works have undergone translation into numerous tongues and are now distributed across 36 nations. For five years in a row, the New York Times has recognized them as the most popular bestsellers. At iphiladelphia, we are telling more about the life and work of the contemporary writer.
Adolescence and education
Jennifer was born on March 28, 1970, in DeRidder, Louisiana. Her parents were of Jewish descent. The family also had two sons and a daughter younger than Jennifer. Her father was a doctor and worked in a military hospital. In 1972, he received a new assignment and the whole family moved to Simsbury, Connecticut.
This is where Jennifer spent her childhood. She attended high school, socialized with her peers and thought about her future education. At school, she was one of the few Jewish children, but she was not harassed about it.
Unlike at school, relations in the Weiner family were not cloudless. When she was 16, her father filed for divorce and left the family. It turned out that he used cocaine, and he died of an overdose in 2008.
At the age of 55, Jennifer’s mother openly recognized her non-traditional sexual orientation. Most of her relatives and friends condemned her behavior. Jennifer was one of the few who supported her mother. In fact, this whole experience later became the basis of Weiner’s future novel, but that was yet to come.
After graduating from high school, she entered Princeton University. There she studied English and graduated with honors in 1991. The following year, her short story Tour of Duty was published, and the talented girl decided to try her hand at journalism.
Career: journalism and writing
After graduating from university, she got a job at a newspaper and wrote editorial columns. The stages of her career included:
- The Centre Daily Times, a daily newspaper published by State College, Pennsylvania
- there, Jennifer wrote the column Generation XIII
- The Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky, where she continued to work on the same column.
Later, The Philadelphia Inquirer offered the young journalist a position as a staff reporter. Weiner then moved to Philadelphia and later connected her personal and creative life with this city.
While working as a reporter, Jennifer also published her own essays and articles in other newspapers and magazines. For example, her various contributions could be found in Time Out New York or Columbia Journalism Review. In addition, the journalist has worked as a freelancer for such publications as Mademoiselle and Seventeen.
Simultaneously, she was engrossed in crafting her debut novel, which saw the light of publication in 2001. The book was called Good in Bed and was based on her difficult family history. The novel became quite popular and received positive reviews from readers and critics. Later, Jennifer continued to work as a writer.
Inspired by her first success, she published her second book in 2005. The novel, titled In Her Shoes, was immediately picked up by 20th Century Fox for a film adaptation. The feature film stars Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette and Shirley MacLaine.
New books and collections of short stories came out from Jennifer’s pen every year. In 2009, the world saw the sixth novel of the writer, Best Friends Forever. It was this novel that was recognized as a bestseller by the New York Times, became the best novel of the year and held its top positions for the longest time.
Jennifer has written nine bestselling books, with 11 million copies in print. They are sold in 36 countries. She continues to write and publish books and short stories. The woman has also returned to journalism and occasionally writes articles on culture and gender for well-known magazines and newspapers.
In addition to her literary work, Jennifer co-wrote and served as an executive producer of the ABC Family sitcom State of Georgia. Her commentaries on the reality shows The Bachelor and The Bachelorette have also gained popularity. Her social media presence is quite popular and attracts a lot of attention.
The fact is that Weiner is a feminist and opposes gender inequality in the writing and publishing business. According to the writer, books by male authors usually receive more attention and positive reviews. Therefore, the path of women in this field is much more difficult.
Personal life
Little is known about the famous writer’s personal life. She shared the story of her parents with the world, but she has no desire to disclose her own romantic relationships.
It is known that Jennifer’s first husband was lawyer Adam Bonin. The couple got married in 2001. Two children were born in this marriage, but it eventually ended in divorce in 2010.
In 2016, Weiner got married for the second time. This time, her chosen one was the writer Bill Syken. The family is known to live in Philly.