Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

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Overview

The remarkable novel of two Southern friendships—the basis of the hit film—available for the first time in large print.

A folksy, funny and endearing story of life in a small town in Alabama in the Depression and in the 1980s. However, the novel's laughter and tears are interrupted by a strange murder and a still stranger trial.

Editorial Reviews

Los Angeles Times

It's very good; in fact, just wonderful.

The New York Times

A real novel and a good one...[from] the busy brain of a born storyteller.

More Reviews (1) Fewer Reviews

Publishers Weekly

When Cleo Threadgood and Evelyn Couch meet in the visitors lounge of an Alabama nursing home, they find themselves exchanging the sort of confidences that are sometimes only safe to reveal to strangers. At 48, Evelyn is falling apart: none of the middle-class values she grew up with seem to signify in today's world. On the other hand, 86-year-old Cleo is still being nurtured by memories of a lifetime spent in Whistle Stop, a pocket-sized town outside of Birmingham, which flourished in the days of the Great Depression. Most of the town's life centered around its one cafe, whose owners, gentle Ruth and tomboyish Idgie, served up grits (both true and hominy) to anyone who passed by. How their love for each other and just about everyone else survived visits from the sheriff, the Ku Klux Klan, a host of hungry hoboes, a murder and the rigors of the Depression makes lively reading -- the kind that eventually nourishes Evelyn and the reader as well. Though Flagg's characters tend to be sweet as candied yams or mean clear through, she manages to infuse their story with enough tartness to avoid sentimentality. Admirers of the wise child in Flagg's first novel, Coming Attractions, will find her grown-up successor, Idgie, equally appealing. The book's best character, perhaps, is the town of Whistle Stop itself. Too bad the trains don't stop there anymore.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781400064625
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Publication date: 4/5/2005
Edition description: Reissue
Pages: 416
Sales rank: 217,375
Lexile: 1000L (what's this?)
Product dimensions: 6.40 (w) x 9.64 (h) x 1.12 (d)

Meet the Author

Fannie Flagg

Fannie Flagg began writing and producing television specials at age nineteen and went on to distinguish herself as an actress and a writer in television, films, and the theater. Her first novel, Daisy Fay and The Miracle Man, spent ten weeks on the New York Times paperback bestseller list, and her second novel, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, was on the same list for thirty-six weeks. It was produced by Universal Pictures as the feature film Fried Green Tomatoes. Flagg's script was nominated for both the Writers Guild of America and an Academy Award, and it won the highly regarded Scripters Award. Flagg narrated both novels on audiocassette and received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Spoken Word.

Her latest novel is titled Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! She lives in California and Alabama.

Biography

Quite early on in her writing career, Fannie Flagg stumbled onto the holy grail of secrets in the publishing world: what editors are actually good for.

Attending the Santa Barbara Writer's Conference in 1978 to see her idol, Eudora Welty, Flagg won first prize in the writing contest for a short story told from the perspective of a 11-year-old girl, spelling mistakes and all -- a literary device that she figured was ingenious because it disguised her own pitiful spelling, later determined to be an outgrowth of dyslexia. But when a Harper & Row editor approached her about expanding the story into a full-length novel, she realized the jig was up.

"I just burst into tears and said, 'I can't write a novel,'" she told The New York Times in 1994. "'I can't spell. I can't diagram a sentence.' He took my hand and said the most wonderful thing I've ever heard. He said, 'Oh, honey, what do you think editors are for?'"

And so Fannie Flagg -- television personality, Broadway star, film actress and six-time Miss Alabama contestant -- became a novelist, delving into the Southern-fried, small-town fiction of the sort populated by colorful characters with homespun, no-nonsense observations. Characters that are known to say things like, "That catfish was so big the photograph alone weighed 40 pounds."

Her first novel, an expanded take on that prize-winning short story, was Coming Attractions: A Wonderful Novel, the story of a spunky yet hapless girl growing up in the South, helping her alcoholic father run the local bijou. But it was with her second novel where it all came together. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café -- a novel, for all its light humor, that infuses its story with serious threads on racism, feminism, spousal abuse and hints at Sapphic love -- follows two pairs of women: a couple running a hometown café in the Depression-era South and an elderly nursing home resident in the late 1980s who strikes up an impromptu friendship with a middle-aged housewife unhappy with her life.

The result was not only a smash novel, but a hit movie as well, one that garnered Flagg an Academy Award nomination for adapting the screenplay. She won praise from the likes of Erma Bombeck, Harper Lee and idol Eudora Welty, and the Los Angeles Times critic compared it to The Last Picture Show. The The New York Times called it, simply, "a real novel and a good one."

Before her career as a novelist, Flagg was known principally for her on-screen television and film work. She was second banana to Allen Funt on the long-running Candid Camera, perhaps the trailblazer for the current crop of so-called reality television. (Her favorite segment, she told Entertainment Weekly in 1992, was driving a car through the wall of a drive-thru bank.) She appeared as the school nurse in the 1978 film version of Grease, and on Broadway in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. And she was a staple of the Match Game television game shows in the '70s.

As a writer, though, this Birmingham, Alabama native found her voice as a chronicler of Southern Americana and life in its self-contained hamlets. "Fannie Flagg is the most shamelessly sentimental writer in America," The Christian Science Monitor wrote in a 1998 review of her third novel. "She's also the most entertaining. You'd have to be a stone to read Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! without laughing and crying. The cliches in this novel are deep-fat fried: not particularly nutritious, but entirely delicious."

The New York Times, also reviewing Baby Girl, took note of the spinning-yarns-on-the-front-porch quality to her work: "Even when she prattles -- and she prattles a great deal during this book -- you are always aware that a star is at work. She has that gift that certain people from the theater have, of never boring the audience. She keeps it simple, she keeps it bright, she keeps it moving right along -- and, most of all, she keeps it beloved."

But, lest she be pegged as simply a champion of the good ol’ days, it's worth noting that her writing can be something of a clarion call for social change. In Fried Green Tomatoes, Flagg comments not only on the racial divisions of the South but also on the minimization of women in both the 1930s and contemporary life. Just as Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison commit to a life together -- without menfolk -- in the Depression-era days of Whistle Stop, Alabama, middle-aged Evelyn Couch in modern-day Birmingham discovers the joys of working outside the home and defining her life outside meeting the every whim of her husband.

On top of her writing, Flagg has also stumped for the Equal Rights Amendment.

"I think it's time that women have to stand up and say we do not want to be seen in a demeaning manner," Flagg told a Premiere magazine reporter in an interview about the film adaptation of Fried Green Tomatoes.

Good To Know

Flagg approximated the length of her first novel by weight. Her editor told her a novel should be around 400 pages. "So I weighed 400 pages and it came to two pounds and something," she told the Los Angeles Times in 1987. " I wrote until I had two pounds and something, and, as it happened, the novel was just about done."

She landed the Candid Camera gig while a writer at a New York comedy club. When one of the performers couldn't go on, Flagg acted as understudy, and the show's host, Allen Funt, was in the audience.

Flagg went undiagnosed for years as a dyslexic until a viewer casually mentioned it to her in a fan letter.

1. Also Known As:
  
  Patricia Neal
2. Hometown:
  
  Montecito, California
1. Date of Birth:
  
  September 21, 1944
2. Place of Birth:
  
  Birmingham, Alabama
1. Education:
  
  The University of Alabama
2. Website:
  
  http://www.randomhouse.com/features/fannieflagg/

Read an Excerpt

THE WEEMS WEEKLY

(WHISTLE STOP, ALABAMA'S WEEKLY BULLETIN)

June 12, 1929

Cafe Opens

The Whistle Stop Cafe opened up last week, right next door to me at the post office, and owners Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison said business has been good ever since. Idgie says that for people who know her not to worry about getting poisoned, she is not cooking. All the cooking is being done by two colored women, Sipsey and Onzell, and the barbecue is being cooked by Big George, who is Onzell's husband.

If there is anybody that has not been there yet, Idgie says that the breakfast hours are from 5:30-7:30, and you can get eggs, grits, biscuits, bacon, sausage, ham and red-eye gravy, and coffee for 25 [cts.].

For lunch and supper you can have: fried chicken;
pork chops and gravy; catfish; chicken and dumplings;
or a barbecue plate; and your choice of three vegetables, biscuits or cornbread, and your drink and dessert—for 35 [cts.].

She said the vegetables are: creamed corn; fried green tomatoes; fried okra; collard or turnip greens; black-eyed peas; candied yams; butter beans or lima beans.

And pie for dessert.

My other half, Wilbur, and I ate there the other night,
and it was so good he says he might not ever eat at home again. Ha. Ha. I wish this were true. I spend all my time cooking for the big lug, and still can't keep him filled up.

By the way, Idgie says that one of her hens laid an egg with a ten-dollar bill in it.

... Dot Weems ...

ROSE TERRACE NURSING HOME

OLD MONTGOMERY HIGHWAY

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

DECEMBER 15, 1985

Evelyn Couch had come to Rose Terrace with her husband, Ed,
who was visiting his mother, Big Momma, a recent but reluctant arrival. Evelyn had just escaped them both and had gone into the visitors' lounge in the back, where she could enjoy her candy bar in peace and quiet. But the moment she sat down, the old woman beside her began to talk ...

"Now, you ask me the year somebody got married ... who they married ... or what the bride's mother wore, and nine times out of ten I can tell you, but for the life of me, I cain't tell you when it was I got to be so old. It just sorta slipped up on me. The first time I noticed it was June of this year, when I was in the hospital for my gallbladder, which they still have, or maybe they threw it out by now ... who knows. That heavyset nurse had just given me another one of those Fleet enemas they're so fond of over there when I noticed what they had on my arm. It was a white band that said:
Mrs. Cleo Threadgoode ... an eighty-six-year-old woman.
Imagine that!

"When I got back home, I told my friend Mrs. Otis, I guess the only thing left for us to do is to sit around and get ready to croak....
She said she preferred the term pass over to the other side. Poor thing, I didn't have the heart to tell her that no matter what you call it, we're all gonna croak, just the same ...

"It's funny, when you're a child you think time will never go by,
but when you hit about twenty, time passes like you're on the fast train to Memphis. I guess life just slips up on everybody. It sure did on me. One day I was a little girl and the next I was a grown woman, with bosoms and hair on my private parts. I missed the whole thing. But then, I never was too smart in school or otherwise ...

"Mrs. Otis and I are from Whistle Stop, a little town about ten miles from here, out by the railroad yards.... She's lived down the street from me for the past thirty years or so, and after her husband died, her son and daughter-in-law had a fit for her to come and live at the nursing home, and they asked me to come with her. I told them I'd stay with her for a while—she doesn't know it yet, but I'm going back home just as soon as she gets settled in good.

"It's not too bad out here. The other day, we all got Christmas corsages to wear on our coats. Mine had little shiny red Christmas balls on it, and Mrs. Otis had a Santy Claus face on hers. But I was sad to give up my kitty, though.

"They won't let you have one here, and I miss her. I've always had a kitty or two, my whole life. I gave her to that little girl next door, the one who's been watering my geraniums. I've got me four cement pots on the front porch, just full of geraniums.

"My friend Mrs. Otis is only seventy-eight and real sweet, but she's a nervous kind of person. I had my gallstones in a Mason jar by my bed, and she made me hide them. Said they made her depressed. Mrs. Otis is just a little bit of somethin', but as you can see, I'm a big woman. Big bones and all.

"But I never drove a car ... I've been stranded most all my life.
Always stayed close to home. Always had to wait for somebody to come and carry me to the store or to the doctor or down to the church. Years ago, you used to be able to take a trolley to Birmingham, but they stopped running a long time ago. The only thing I'd do different if I could go back would be to get myself a driver's license.

"You know, it's funny what you'll miss when you're away from home. Now me, I miss the smell of coffee ... and bacon frying in the morning. You cain't smell anything they've got cooking out here,
and you cain't get a thing that's fried. Everything here is boiled up,
with not a piece of salt on it! I wouldn't give you a plugged nickel for anything boiled, would you?"

The old lady didn't wait for an answer ".... I used to love my crackers and buttermilk, or my buttermilk and cornbread,
in the afternoon. I like to smash it all up in my glass and eat it with a spoon, but you cain't eat in public like you can at home
... can you? ... And I miss wood.

"My house is nothing but just a little old railroad shack of a house, with a living room, bedroom, and a kitchen. But it's wood,
with pine walls inside. Just what I like. I don't like a plaster wall.
They seem ... oh, I don't know, kinda cold and stark-like.

"I brought a picture with me that I had at home, of a girl in a swing with a castle and pretty blue bubbles in the background, to hang in my room, but that nurse here said the girl was naked from the waist up and not appropriate. You know, I've had that picture for fifty years and I never knew she was naked. If you ask me, I don't think the old men they've got here can see well enough to notice that she's bare-breasted. But, this is a Methodist home, so she's in the closet with my gallstones.

"I'll be glad to get home.... Of course, my house is a mess. I haven't been able to sweep for a while. I went out and threw my broom at some old, noisy bluejays that were fighting and, wouldn't you know it, my broom stuck up there in the tree. I've got to get someone to get it down for me when I get back.

"Anyway, the other night, when Mrs. Otis's son took us home from the Christmas tea they had at the church, he drove us over the railroad tracks, out by where the cafe used to be, and on up First Street, right past the old Threadgoode place. Of course, most of the house is all boarded up and falling down now, but when we came down the street, the headlights hit the windows in such a way that, just for a minute, that house looked to me just like it had so many of those nights, some seventy years ago, all lit up and full of fun and noise. I could hear people laughing, and Essie Rue pounding away at the piano in the parlor;
'Buffalo Gal, Won't You Come Out Tonight' or 'The Big Rock Candy Mountain,' and I could almost see Idgie Threadgoode sitting in the chinaberry tree, howling like a dog every time Essie Rue tried to sing. She always said that Essie Rue could sing about as well as a cow could dance. I guess, driving by that house and me being so homesick made me go back in my mind ...

"I remember it just like it was yesterday, but then I don't think there's anything about the Threadgoode family I don't remember.
Good Lord, I should, I've lived right next door to them from the day I was born, and I married one of the boys.

"There were nine children, and three of the girls, Essie Rue and the twins, were more or less my own age, so I was always over there playing and having spend-the-night parties. My own mother died of consumption when I was four, and when my daddy died, up in Nashville, I just stayed on for good. I guess you might say the spend-the-night party never ended..."

Foreward

1. This novel has a very complex structure alternating between the past and the present and the point of view of a whole host of different characters. Did this narrative format work for you? Were there particular narrators you found more compelling than others and why?

2. ?Idgie and Ruth's friendship is truly a case of opposites attract. Why is the scene where Idgie reveals her bee charming skills to Ruth so pivotal to the story of their relationship and in understanding what drew them together despite their differences?

3. Jasper Peavey's grandson is embarrassed by his grandfather's behavior toward white people. Discuss generational conflict and how life changed or did not change across the generations in both the Peavey and Threadgoode families.

4. This novel has a great deal to say about race relations in the South. How did the black and white communities interact in this story both within and beyond the borders of Whistle Stop? Were Idgie and Ruth's egalitarian views on race typical?

5. ?What is Artis Peavey's secret? Do you think the events he witnessed as a child had an impact upon his later life? How does race have an impact upon the lives of all the Peavey children—Jasper, Artis, Willie Boy, Naughty Bird? What options were available to them and what choices did they make and why? What do you think of the revenge that Artis takes on the man who murdered his brother?

6. Do you think the color of Jasper and Artis' skin—Jasper being very light-skinned and Artis being very dark-skinned—made a difference in their approach to life? What does the light-skinned Clarissa's encounter with her dark-skinned Uncle Artis say about life as ablack Southerner?

7. How do you feel about a character like Grady Kilgore, Whistle Stop sheriff, member of the Ku Klux Klan, and friend to Idgie and Ruth at the same time?

8. ?Eva Bates is a woman you might call sexually liberated before her time. What role does she play in Idgie's life? In Stump's? What are Ruth's feelings toward Eva?

9. We never learn where Ninny came from or how she came to be adopted by the Threadgoodes, only that they took her in and treated her like a member of the family. This is only one example in a novel full of non-traditional families. What are some other examples of familial bonds that do not look like a traditional nuclear family? How does this author challenge and expand our understanding of the meaning and structure of family?

10. ?What drives Idgie to masquerade as Railroad Bill? What role did the economic devastation of the Great Depression play in the lives of Idgie, Ruth, Smokey, and everyone in Whistle Stop?

11. ?Why did Ruth leave Idgie and marry Frank? What made her finally leave him?

12. ?Did the identity of Frank Bennett's killer surprise you? What drove her to do what she did? Why was Idgie prepared to take the blame?

13. What do Dot Weems' weekly dispatches tell us about the nature of life in a small town? Were you sorry to see Whistle Stop fade away? Why has this been the fate of so many small towns in America?

14. How does Idgie help Stump overcome having lost his arm?

15. ?How did Evelyn's relationship with Ninny Threadgoode change her life? What did she learn from Mrs. Threadgoode? And how did Evelyn help her friend?

16. What did Ninny Threadgoode's stories offer Evelyn? Why do you think Evelyn is so drawn to this woman and her stories?

17. Ninny tells Evelyn that her memories are all she has left. Discuss the importance of memory and storytelling in this novel.

18. Why and how was Evelyn able to finally overcome her revenge fantasies, send Towanda packing and make important changes in her life? What steps did she take that ensured these changes would be for good and not a temporary thing?

19. How does this story explore the process of aging? How do we die with dignity when all those we loved and who loved us are gone? How does Ninny manage?

20. Does the Whistle Stop Cafe sound like a restaurant you would like to frequent?

21. Is domestic violence viewed differently today than it was in Ruth's time? Do you see any changes in Ruth's character after she leaves her abusive marriage?

22. Which character would you be most interested in meeting and why?

23. For those of you who have seen the movie, how do the movie and the book compare? What is missing from the movie and why do you think this is so? Do you think the choices made in terms of how to streamline this complex novel for film were the best ones?

24. The importance of food in the fabric of everyday life is a central theme in this book. For example, Evelyn and Mrs. Threadgoode bond over the treats Evelyn brings. What does Evelyn's battle with her weight say about contemporary society and women's relationships with food and their weight? Are these struggles evident in the lives if Ninny, Idgie, or Ruth?

25. In the final chapter, we learn what has happened to Idgie. Why do you think she and Julian left Whistle Stop to take to the road? Why don't their friends or family appear to know where they are? Does this seem like an appropriate ending for Idgie?

26. ?Will anyone or has anyone tried any of Sipsey's recipes?

Reading Group Guide

2. Idgie and Ruth's friendship is truly a case of opposites attract. Why is the scene where Idgie reveals her bee charming skills to Ruth so pivotal to the story of their relationship and in understanding what drew them together despite their differences?

5. What is Artis Peavey's secret? Do you think the events he witnessed as a child had an impact upon his later life? How does race have an impact upon the lives of all the Peavey children--Jasper, Artis, Willie Boy, Naughty Bird? What options were available to them and what choices did they make and why? What do you think of the revenge that Artis takes on the man who murdered his brother?

6. Do you think the color of Jasper and Artis' skin--Jasper being very light-skinned and Artis being very dark-skinned--made a difference in their approach to life? What does the light-skinned Clarissa's encounter with her dark-skinned Uncle Artis say about life as a blackSoutherner?

7. How do you feel about a character like Grady Kilgore, Whistle Stop sheriff, member of the Ku Klux Klan, and friend to Idgie and Ruth at the same time?

8. Eva Bates is a woman you might call sexually liberated before her time. What role does she play in Idgie's life? In Stump's? What are Ruth's feelings toward Eva?

10. What drives Idgie to masquerade as Railroad Bill? What role did the economic devastation of the Great Depression play in the lives of Idgie, Ruth, Smokey, and everyone in Whistle Stop?

11. Why did Ruth leave Idgie and marry Frank? What made her finally leave him?

12. Did the identity of Frank Bennett's killer surprise you? What drove her to do what she did? Why was Idgie prepared to take the blame?

13. What do Dot Weems' weekly dispatches tell us about the nature of life in a small town? Were you sorry to see Whistle Stop fade away? Why has this been the fate of so many small towns in America?

14. How does Idgie help Stump overcome having lost his arm?

15. How did Evelyn's relationship with Ninny Threadgoode change her life? What did she learn from Mrs. Threadgoode? And how did Evelyn help her friend?

16. What did Ninny Threadgoode's stories offer Evelyn? Why do you think Evelyn is so drawn to this woman and her stories?

17. Ninny tells Evelyn that her memories are all she has left. Discuss the importance of memory and storytelling in this novel.

19. How does this story explore the process of aging? How do we die with dignity when all those we loved and who loved us are gone? How does Ninny manage?

20. Does the Whistle Stop Cafe sound like a restaurant you would like to frequent?

21. Is domestic violence viewed differently today than it was in Ruth's time? Do you see any changes in Ruth's character after she leaves her abusive marriage?

22. Which character would you be most interested in meeting and why?

26. Will anyone or has anyone tried any of Sipsey's recipes?

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Anonymous

Posted October 27, 2008

I Also Recommend:

MY ALL TIME FAVORITE!!

I'm a fanatic of Fried Green Tomatoes. So, of course, I had to have the audio book, read by the author herself, Fannie Flagg. And she does not disappoint. Her southern drawl is cute and she knows how to act the lines (she was involved in the theater before jumping into writing).
Although...for all those who know the movie and the book like the palm of their hand, a word of caution: you'll miss the actresses's voices (in the case of the movie) and many of the delicious details of the book that were left behind in this abridged version (like the catfish joke Idgie and Stump played on unsuspecting visitors and when Idgie first met Ruth and when Ruth went away). I think it's because reading verbatim from the book would've made it too long, but I still resent that they left so much out.
This audio book is really for the hardcore fans. Anyone else will tire of it. But Fannie Flagg is delightful and it gives this CD that extra something when you know the woman who cooked this story up is telling you the story from her own lips.
Buy this if you fell in love with Ruth and Idgie and Ninny and Evelyn. It'll add to the collection you probably already have revolving around Fried Green Tomatoes. I love the sotries that stick with you the rest of your life. My recommendations are exactly that.

11 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
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Darsey_spudnick

Posted August 31, 2009

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A SOUTHERN CLASSIC

Evelyn Couch is having a midlife crisis. She was brought up to be a "good girl" and do everything she was "supposed" to do, which was to marry a good man and become a wife and mother. She did, but now that her children are grown and out of the house, Evelyn is feeling that life has passed her by. She is realizing that the current world is so very different from the one she grew up in and she does not know how to cope. On top of that, she realizes that her relationship with her husband is drifting farther and farther apart. Many days, she sits at home alone, overeating and wishing for the courage to end her life.
Things begin to change when she meets Cleo Threadgood, a resident at a local Alabama nursing home. Cleo regales Evelyn with stories of her family and friends, growing up in a small town named Whistle Stop, Alabama. Through these stories and numerous visits with Cleo, Evelyn begins to reevaluate her life and discover for the first time, the kind of woman that she wants to become.
This is my favorite book. I suppose it resonated so well with me because I read it for the first time when I was in college, trying to figure out who I was, much like Ruth. There are strong themes of hope, resilience, perseverance, and change, in this story. I never get tired of reading this book because the author writes with such passion and poignancy that it draws me in every time. As stated earlier, these characters feel like friends who I want to visit over and over.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted April 17, 2008

One of my favorite books

This book, along with the books 'Certain Girls' and 'Barring Some Unforeseen Accident' are some of my favorites. FGT as it is loving known to most of us, is posibly the best Southern book written (modern book). And it's one of the few that was made into a fantastic movie. The story of friendship, southern culture, and love will warm your heart and make you laugh

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted November 5, 2007

A reviewer

Jackson McCrae's southern book 'Bark of the Dogwood' set me off on a journey to read more about this wonderful story-telling-prone area. Thus I found Mrs. Flagg's 'Fried Green Tomatoes.' A superb book, this is a perfect story with tugs at the heartstrings and drama.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted April 10, 2008

A wonderful, cute story.

I would recommend this book to any one of any age. The book is well written with mystery, humor, culture and intrigue. I just love the characters. Ruth and Idgie are just so cute and endearing. The author is masterful at pulling you into this little town of heart.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted April 4, 2008

The south the way it was

For me, this was the story of the south the way it used to be, long before the stip malls took over and everyone got so materialistic. Fannie Flagg has obviously lived this tale in one form or another, or at least known people like this. I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone of any age level.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted May 11, 2012

I wish that i had like...70759207300056712946 thumbs, because thats how many i would put up for this!!!!!!

Humorous and sad and realistic. This book is so good! The parts with the KKK got me so worked up. I couldnt sleep till i finished this book! Same for the movie!
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Anonymous

Posted March 18, 2012

Not as good as other books by Fannie Flagg

Did not enjoy this book as much as other books by Fannie Flagg

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted February 25, 2012

Thougts

This was a wonderful book to read!
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Anonymous

Posted February 1, 2012

Southern Living

Shows true friendship and a tale of the south. With great meanning it makes a fantastic book. I would recomend it to everyone!
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Anonymous

Posted January 22, 2012

Loved it

Best book ever!
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Anonymous

Posted January 3, 2012

GREAT BOOK

Who ever said that this book is bad or a little bit bad the are lieing. The only thing this book lacks is it didnt havd as much charm as the movie had but it has well over enough to make you read it more and more.
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Anonymous

Posted November 29, 2011

Recommend!

Love it! It's one of my favorite movies, so i checked out the book and it did not disappoint! :)
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weeklyreader51

Posted October 14, 2011

Viewed the movie numerous times - first time I've read the book

The big surprise (to me) was how accurately the movie follows the book. Obviously there is much more detail, but unlike many book-based movies, this one is astonishingly true to the book.
The movie did not cover the Whistle Stop weekly news bites, and the ending is a little different than the movie (I can see why they did what they did though). Deep south recipes are included (yes, fried green tomatoes too).
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eeksageek

Posted July 13, 2011

NYC Thumbs Up

I read this book years before I saw the movie. The reader is made to care for the characters. A GREAT introduction to a Southern world for this damn yank--born and raised!
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Alle_Berry

Posted July 5, 2011

more from this reviewer

Overall very enjoyable, but feels VERY abridged

This is a quick and light audibook, and Fannie Flagg is great to listen to - her voice is very appropriate for the story, with her twang. The story is a classic one, but I was disappointed that it seemed to be lacking so much of the charm that the movie had for me...I am of the belief that this audiobook has been overly abridged from the original, and I think a lot was lost. The background music is a cute touch.
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Anonymous

Posted July 2, 2011

Hands down best

This book is so raw in form and so genuine... It's the best book I've ever read!
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LillyParksONBooks

Posted May 7, 2011

more from this reviewer

An okay read

An okay read
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trishamil

Posted April 20, 2011

more from this reviewer

Great Read!!!

I'm not done with this book, but almost. I saw the movie years ago and I have to say that I'm really connecting with Evilyn Couch (Kathy Bates) haha. This is a story of acceptance and unconditional love, about finding yourself and so much more! This book is inspiring & has made me look at myself. You will LOVE this book. The books I love are: The Alienest, Invisible Bridge, City of Thieves, The Kite Runner, Someone Knows My Name, The Kitchen House, Water For Elephants, The Green Mile, Shawshank Redmeption. If you like any of those, you will love this one!
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Anonymous

Posted March 26, 2011

EXCELLENT READ!!

I laughed outloud and I cried as I came to know all of the people in this story. You will want to read this story over again and again. This is the first book that I have read by this author but it won't be the last.
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Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

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MY ALL TIME FAVORITE!!

A SOUTHERN CLASSIC

One of my favorite books

A reviewer

A wonderful, cute story.

The south the way it was

I wish that i had like...70759207300056712946 thumbs, because thats how many i would put up for this!!!!!!

Not as good as other books by Fannie Flagg

Thougts

Southern Living

Loved it

GREAT BOOK

Recommend!

Viewed the movie numerous times - first time I've read the book

NYC Thumbs Up

Overall very enjoyable, but feels VERY abridged

Hands down best

An okay read

Great Read!!!

EXCELLENT READ!!