I know several people who are Fannie Flagg fans, but this is the first book I've read of hers. Two different people loaned it to me at two different times, and I finally got around to really getting into it vs. just looking through it. The second time it was loaned to me, I was told that she laughed all the way through and just loved it.
It took me a while to get into this book (obviously!) Every character has a narration voice -- that takes a bit of getting used to, but makes the book more interesting. It truly was a funny book. I suspect we'd feel this way if we were cognizant of other people's thought processes.
Flagg looks at her subjects with compassion. Their foibles are highlighted, but gently.
Imagine the consternation when a beloved older member of the community is pronounced dead, then several hours later abruptly sits up in the hospital and starts talking. The village hot line broadcasts her death immediately. Neighbors go in to straighten her house. They are all in mourning. We learn why she is so beloved, the many kindly things (and much more interesting than her daughter or son-in-law would expect) she has done over the years. We learn how she spends her time when she is dead. Throw in assorted characters: a would-be rapist; a murder; a hidden gun; a hidden body; a young man lifted out of his circumstances; the popular hair dresser; the obsessive daughter; the hospital attorney; the son-in-law who stops every day before going to work...
It's really a lovely book, one that makes you think, one that makes you smile and laugh out loud, one with a bit of melancholy, but hope for a life well lived. I enjoyed her time between death and living again.
Have you read it?
Karin
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Originally posted 2008-05-28 09:37:46.
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