The Friday Night Knitting Club (Borders recommended)

I wish this book had had some sort of commercial. To let me know, "nothing fantastic, just a cheesy little story that will sit well with you so long as you are in the right mood." Like so many chic-flic movies I opt to watch, knowing it won't wow me, but rather it will just suffice that desire I have to see some quirky little happy ever after love story. Luckily, I was in the mood for something less realistic, a quick get away after braving the likes of Anna Karenina and blazing through Giovanni's room.

Actually, now that I think about it -- the fact that it is Borders Book Club book of the month should have been my commercial. Maybe I knew what I was getting into all along. Maybe I've missed the likes of the Twilight series after all.

Warning: The rest of this post will contain spoilers.

Now some who've read it may be thinking, "What do you mean happy ever after ending!?!?! This book made me bawl my eyes out." Ok, that is understandable. But none the less this book was very much the perfect little story about six very different women and their perfectly happy lives. Cat gets to leave behind her ass of a a husband, even though she wishes he'd chase her down and beg her back, the book closes with her starting her own business and finally being able to return to the Catherine she always wanted to be. KC aces her LSAT test and will head onto Columbia Law -- and she finished her sweater. Lucie has a baby at 42 without any difficulty and she'll never have to share this baby with a man, as the father doesn't even know she was just using him for sperm; plus her movie about the knitting club seems to have been a big success, oh and her job gave her all the breaks in the world. Anita -- who they all loved and desperately needed but never seemed to actually care about -- finds a new love after being widowed for so many years. Peri's purses are picked up by Bloomingdale's and become a huge success, and she's now pretty much the owner of the store, and will never have to pay rent on the building because of Anita's lover's good heart. Darwin's husband comes back to her after a year of separation and even a scandalous one night stand -- oh and it's the disastrous sweater she knit that magically allows him to forgive her -- and she finally is able to write her dissertation. I'm sure she has a baby in Knit Two. And Georgia, even Georgia manages to work out all her struggles and have a beautifully happy ending. Her death didn't cause me to shed a single tear. The only times I would choke up came months later, as you watched others handle her disappearance. Which I think captures my beliefs on death quite well. It's always harder on those left behind.

Definitely a modern day Steel Magnolias. And I'm sure Julia Roberts will play the dying heroine once again. Even though she doesn't fit Georgia's description. I'm sure it will be a lovely movie. And because it will have a commercial, only people who are totally in the mood for a perfectly happy feel good movie will bother to pay for it. Or people who are always willing to watch their favorite actors (like Roberts) no matter how horrific the plot line seems.

But I don't think the movie will ever merit the likes of Steel Magnolias. It's set in NYC and we all know those kind of relationships really work best in small towns. How could you ever be buddies with a Ouiser in the city? Plus, movies are never as good as the book, and in this case, the book is never as good as the movie it was (perhaps subconsciously) paired after. But I actually wouldn't blame that on a faulty story line, but rather. Mediocre. Predictably. Cliched. Writing.