All about Jennifer Weiner's reading

Whew! I just got back from the Jennifer Weiner reading at the 82nd Street Barnes & Noble. I had a good time, although I got there an hour early (following the bookstore person's advice). I think half an hour in advance would have been fine.

JW is very down-to-earth and quite funny. Highlights:

1) She says she's like Chris Farley (may he rest in peace, she says) when she's around famous people. Remember when Chris Farley said to Paul McCartney, "Remember when you were in the Beatles? That was COOL." JW said, likewise, that when she met Cameron Diaz (who's starring in the movie based on JW's book), JW was like, "Remember when you had ____ in your hair? That was COOL." I'm sure she didn't really say that...

2) She says her daughter is really cute, "not that I have anything to do with it. She looks like my husband. People think I'm the nanny. They're like, 'How long have you been taking care of her?' and I'm like, 'Forever.'"

3) JW's mother is a lesbian, and when her grandmother found out, her grandmother said, "Your mother was always difficult." Now "difficult" means "gay" in the Weiner family. JW said, "I saw Tom Cruise on Oprah and I was like, hmmm...DIFFICULT. Poor Katie."

4) Before meeting Cameron Diaz, JW saw her name in the tabloids, on a list of celebrities who don't bathe. So when Cameron gave JW a hug, JW sniffed her. Later she called her husband and said, "I met Cameron Diaz and she smells really good!" Pause. "Please tell me you didn't sniff Cameron Diaz," her husband said.

5) JW's first book was based on a painful breakup. Her boyfriend at the time left her for a social worker. She said she used to hope she'd see him on a street corner, with four stumps, turning the pages of her book with his tongue, but then she said, "I'm not about vengeance. I'm about getting published. Much better for everyone."

6) When asked who should play Kelly from "Little Earthquakes," JW said, "Reese Witherspoon. She has that brittle, desperate quality."

7) JW finagled a role for her grandmother in the movie based on JW's book. Her grandmother lives in Century Village, a retirement community in Michigan. Before they left for filming, her grandmother sneaked away to make a phone call. Turns out she was calling the sheriff - "The Call of Life" - to let him know that if she went out, ahem, the ambulance that circles the retirement community wouldn't have to make a stop. (I know, it's awful, but everyone was laughing.)

8) JW's grandmother likes JW's mother's new girlfriend, Claire. Claire is a nurse and takes Nana's blood pressure. This makes Nana happy!

9) JW commented on the "constant tension of writing sex scenes" while her mother is still alive.

10) At the screening of her movie, JW saw the part where FOX comes on the screen, burst into tears and said, "That part was really good!"

11) JW read a scene from her new book for us :) It's coming out in September or October (the movie, In Her Shoes, is also coming out in September or October). Without giving anything away, the new book is a mystery, which is a bit of a departure for JW. But it seems quite good.

OK, that's about it for now. Oh, and finally, here's a picture of me and JW. It was taken by the girl who was behind me in line at the signing. She was sweet but very inept and had a hard time with D's picture phone. So it's fuzzy.