Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Books | Fiction / Women
4.4
(2.0K)
Fannie Flagg
Folksy and fresh, endearing and affecting, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is a now-classic novel about two women: Evelyn, who’s in the sad slump of middle age, and gray-headed Mrs. Threadgoode, who’s telling her life story. Her tale includes two more women—the irrepressibly daredevilish tomboy Idgie and her friend Ruth—who back in the thirties ran a little place in Whistle Stop, Alabama, offering good coffee, southern barbecue, and all kinds of love and laughter—even an occasional murder. And as the past unfolds, the present will never be quite the same again. Praise for Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe “A real novel and a good one [from] the busy brain of a born storyteller.”—The New York Times “Happily for us, Fannie Flagg has preserved [the Threadgoodes] in a richly comic, poignant narrative that records the exuberance of their lives, the sadness of their departure.”—Harper Lee “This whole literary enterprise shines with honesty, gallantry, and love of perfect details that might otherwise be forgotten.”—Los Angeles Times “Funny and macabre.”—The Washington Post “Courageous and wise.”—Houston Chronicle
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More Details:
Author
Fannie Flagg
Pages
432
Publisher
Random House Publishing Group
Published Date
2011-01-26
ISBN
0307776654 9780307776655
Ratings
Google: 5
Community ReviewsSee all
"The movie was very good, but the book is amazing. One of my favorites for sure. I love how the characters were written, all of the have their own individual personality, ambitions, everything. And the author also makes you love all of them (well, most of them). It's touching sometimes, and other times it makes you cry, or laugh like crazy, or be really upset. It's about life, in all the good and bad parts of it. I definitely loved it, and when I finished it it leaved me with a very nice feeling. "
Y J
Yo Jariod
"I've watched the movie many times. Love the movie. I knew it was a book, I just had never really thought to pick it up until I saw it in a used bookstore and decided "Why not?" and bought it. I'm glad I did, though there were parts that made me sad and other parts I just down right hated. But there were other parts that made things out of the movie make much more sense.<br/><br/>Evelyn Couch seems like such a pathetic character, though her transformation is one I love. The book sheds more light on the way she is than the movie, in which I'm grateful. I think there are times when most people feel they have no where they belong too and can relate to that. Or to the husband who seems more interested in game after work than anything else. I can see how she has slowly lost herself over the years. It is sad to see, but I also love seeing how weekly visits with Mrs. Threadgoode have started to get her thinking differently. Not that she has to lose 25 pounds to be happy, but that she is perfect the way she is now and maybe just get some hormones for that pesky thing called menopause. I think her transformation from a meek woman into a self confident woman is beautiful. <spoiler>Though the part I hated, just hated, in the book was that she left and in those two months stopped all communication with Mrs. Threadgoode. She thought about her often but never picked up the phone or anything and so she missed out on two months with her friend who helped shape her into just loving herself. This is one of the few things I'm glad they left out of the movie.... but I might be biased since I watched the movie first.</spoiler><br/><br/>The timeline in here isn't chronological. It jumps around. Which makes it feel just as if Mrs. Threadgoode is just telling one of her many stories. I thought this would irritate me a bit but I liked it. It felt like storytime. I also loved The Weem Weekly. I loved the little bits of what was going on. I liked how while they shared stuff, they didn't seem to gossip. They lifted each other up and tended to not drag people down. We don't do that anymore. <br/><br/>Mostly the book offered more in depth character building that helped to make things clearer. In the movie Ninny isn't in any of the scenes that I recall. Though now I'm going to watch it to see. But I remember thinking is she really Idgie? How can we be sure that she isn't? And it seems I'm not the only one who wondered. But the book includes Ninny in many parts and it makes much more sense. And one of the things that made me wonder is that </spoiler>as far as we know, Idgie hasn't visited Mrs. Threadgoode in the nursing home. She talks of being the last one left. I always assumed this means left alive, but in the movie and book I suppose this means left in the area.</spoiler><br/><br/>I think one of the story lines that made me the saddest was actually Smokey Lonesome. The poor guy. His life never seemed to get better. The bright spot in his life was the Cafe and after that closed down it seemed he had nothing left to look forward too.<br/><br/>I'm glad I took the time to read this book. I'm glad I saw it stacked just there on that table and picked it up."
"A fantastic, warm and evocative book, like looking through an old photo album full of interesting stories both sad and happy. Definitely worth checking out for anyone."
L B
Leah Burns
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