In "Jennifer Weiner: Why I'm Waging War on Literary Snobbery," author Jane Mulkerrins asserts Jennifer Weiner has long been aware of the sort of writer she wants to be. “I knew the kind of books I loved myself, which perhaps aren’t considered great literature, but are great stories, with strong characters and smart observations,” she says. “You might not stop and gasp over every sentence, but those books get put in lots of beach bags, and taken on lots of aeroplanes, and read in lots of hospitals: they keep people company and they make them feel good. Those are the books I wanted to write.”

She is certainly very successful. As a librarian I book talk the young adult versions of Weiner's books on a regular basis. I enjoy reading them. I enjoy talking about them. As an Advanced Placement Literature teacher, I am a bit uncomfortable with her disdain. Certainly, I needed to read a bit further. I did, only to discover that her complaints are not necessarily about the literary merit of a work.

In reference to a fairly well publicized social media "battle" with Jonathan Franzen, she reveals her concern that works written by women for women is reviewed much less seriously and much less often than works written by men. I am often aware of the dearth of women in the accepted literary canon as I work through my curriculum each year. She also notes disappointment when other women speak disparagingly of "chick lit" - noting. "I’m not saying that we all need to hold hands and sing Kumbaya, but I wish that there was some recognition of what the real problem is. Chick lit is not the problem.”

While I agree her concerns are valid. I think, perhaps, she begs the question of whether or not levels of literary merit exist in the publishing and reading world. She openly admits that she is not that concerned with literary merit, but blames gender bias for the lack of respect her work receives. I am not sure her reasoning is entirely valid - but thought provoking nonetheless.