Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 384 pages
- Published by: Ballantine Books June 19, 2007
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0345494881
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0345494887
-
Book Dimensions:
10.5 x 6.9 x 1 inches
- Weighs: 6.4 ounces
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. The only thing more enjoyable than reading a Fannie Flagg novel is having Flagg read it aloud herself. A born storyteller, Flagg is a marvelous reader with a warm, welcoming Alabama accent. She immediately puts listeners at ease, priming them for an engrossing yarn that will mix laugh-out-loud hilarity with unabashed sentiment in a novel as thoughtful as it is delightful. Returning to Elmwood Springs, Miss. (the setting of two previous novels), Flagg focuses on a handful of days following octogenarian Elner Shimfissle's fatal fall from a tree. As listeners check in on various residents in town to see how they're reacting to the news and remembering how their lives were touched by the old woman, Flagg alternates bite-size chapters detailing Elner's journey to the afterlife. Flagg completely embodies her delightful characters, adapting a slight vocal scratch for eternally optimistic Elner, a flatter drawl for the ever-complaining hairdresser Tot and a sweet innocence as Elner's hilariously nervous niece, Norma. An uplifting delight.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
From AudioFile
Fannie Flagg, the incomparable Southern writer and actress, returns to Elmwood Springs, Missouri, to paint and portray feisty, inquisitive octogenarian Elner Shimfissle. Elner falls out of her fig tree and is presumed dead. While her family and friends mourn, she makes a "temporary" visit to heaven, where she runs into her deceased sister, Ida, as well as Ginger Rogers and Tom Edison. When she "returns," she shares details of her experience with her niece as well as communicating her thoughts on the wisdom of life and its meaning with townspeople. While this touching slice of Southern life stands well on its own, having Flagg herself breathe life, love, and laughter into her heroine and her acquaintances, living and dead, makes for the most rewarding and entertaining experience of the year. M.T.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
Reader Reviews
This review is from: Can't Wait to Get to Heaven: A Novel (Hardcover)
What a wonderful treat Fannie Flagg's newest trip to Elmwood Springs is. The characters we first met in WELCOME TO THE WORLD, BABY GIRL and got to know better in STANDING IN THE RAINBOW have aged, had more experiences both good and bad, but still maintain the small-town, folksy charm of Flagg's earlier works. The laugh-out-loud moments are many amidst the tears, the suspense, and the fantasy. Norma Warren's aunt, Elner Shimfissle, who was a minor character in the other novels set in Elmwood Springs, comes into her own as the main character and the epicenter of an emotional upheaval in the little town. While picking figs from her tree in the front yard, Elner accidentally disturbs a nest of wasps and is bitten to death. Or is she? Fannie Flagg takes liberal license with the heaven alluded to in the Bible, but it's all in good taste and puts a very personal spin on a place still quite mysterious to the living. The best thing about this book is the characters, their obvious love for one another, and the close-knit feeling of community that Flagg captures with her razor-sharp wit and endearing charm. Remember Tot Whooten from the Tell It Like It Is Beauty Shop? And Neighbor Dorothy with her fabulous radio show? Macky Warren, Norma's high school sweetheart and husband, and Dena Nordstrom, the cousin who was a high-powered New York executive? These and others have all returned and catching up on their lives is an experience not to be missed. Along the way, the reader is actually told the meaning of life and given the formula for leading a happy and rewarding one. That's certainly more than I expected when I bought this book. Another bonus is the yummy recipes mentioned in the book all appear at the end. They sounded so mouth-watering that I have Neighbor Dorothy's Heavenly Caramel Cake in the oven as I type this.
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