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Summary: Flagg has a knack for making a southerner feel at home
Review: Fannie Flagg has a knack for creating down-home southern characters. In this book, she tells the story of a young, ambitious woman, Dena Nordstrom, scratching her way to the top of American Television as a newscaster. She has southern roots, but doesn't know or care about them because she's too busy with work. In fact, she thinks her distant relatives are boring hicks. Eventually though, her childhood comes back to haunt her and she finds herself in a chasm of emotion. As her health deteriorates, she's forced to look in those dark places and realizes that these country folks possess a power greater than fame; they simply accept and love her and find all that's good in the world. She finds herself at home with her southern family in "Small town America".Welcome to the World, Baby Girl is a delightful book. It's humorous, sad, and mysterious. Flagg jumps around in time between the 1940's and 1970's to weave the story of Dena's past and present together. She successfully brings all the characters together as the mystery of Dena's past unfolds. In the process, she broaches the difficult subjects of racism, greed, and power and contrasts the ugly side of humanity with light, fresh honest, love, compassion, and acceptance. She does this by describing the idyllic small American southern town. While I found her idyllic town a little too perfect, I can see why she wrote it that way. To me, it was a direct and simple contrast between a cold, yet glamorous big city and a small loving town where everyone knows each other. I've lived in small southern towns and her description brought me back to all that was good about them: friendly folks who go out of their way to help you. Whether you enjoy the anonymity of big cities or the conformity of small towns, you will enjoy this book. It's well written and interesting. It's a fun book to read.
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Summary: Southern delight
Review: Well, Fried Green Tomatoes is Fannie Flagg's best, but Welcome to the World is also pretty good. It follows Dena Nordstrom, fondly called Baby Girl by her family, as she rises to some measure of fame as a TV anchorperson in Manhattan.
But while others envy her, Dena is miserable, drinking too much, and battling an ulcer. She heads to a shrink - who promptly falls in love with her and transfers her to another shrink rather than deal with the conflict of interest between patient and doctor. Then comes job conflict, a muckraker who tries to dig up garbage on celebrities, upon which hinges sort of a trick ending.
Pretty good, but not Flagg's best.
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Summary: Not a bad one in the bunch
Review: I've not read a Flagg novel that I didn't adore. Even my husband loves her books and he doesn't usually do anything but sleep, watch TV, or hunt. So the woman MUST be doing something right! While FRIED GREEN TOMATOES is my all-time favorite (book AND movie), WELCOME TO THE WORLD comes in at a close second. The writing is brilliant and as usual Flagg gives us feeling without sappiness. If only more writers of her ilk were as considerate of their fans! Also recommend: FGT, STANDING IN THE RAINBOW, BARK OF THE DOGWOOD, and A CAN OF PEAS
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Summary: Fascinating characters and excellent storytelling
Review: Ambitious Dena Nordstrom works as TV newscaster in New York City in the 1970s. She is intelligent, successful, and satisfied with her chosen profession, yet the change of TV news into sensationalism makes her question her career. After a breakdown she returns to her hometown Elmwood Springs in Missouri. It's there where Dena finally gathers her strength to face and solve the mystery of her mother's past which still haunts her.
Fannie Flagg succeeded not only in creating a strong female protagonist but also in bringing to life some truly colorful and intriguing supporting characters such as Dena's friend Sookie or her relative Aunt Elner. The dialogues are realistic, fresh, and often hilarious. Slowly but steadily the reader is drawn deeper into Dena's world, wanting to know more about her life with every twist and turn of the storyline.
"Welcome To The World, Baby Girl!" is one of those books which make you both happy and sad -- happy because its message is throughout positive and life-affirming, yet sad because it's hard to part with the cast. So pick up the book for an entertaining read with characters whom you will remember a long time after finishing the novel.
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Summary: Charming, All-American Novel
Review: Welcome to the World Baby Girl is my first Fannie Flagg novel, and I just loved it! The most priceless segments of the novel are all centered on the sweet, nostalgic description of the small Midwestern town, Elmwood Springs. The imagery and description are so vivid, that I felt as if I could smell the cookies baking. It's a wonderful novel that pays tribute to American small-town roots. Flagg also does a fantastic job of creating hilarious, idiosyncratic, and endearing characters. The main character, Dena, is also a fascinating story. While the reader never knows exactly if Dena's actions will follow her thoughts, the reader is certainly aware of a slow transformation in her character. My only criticism is that the novel's "neat" ending seemed like a last minute attachment. The mystery of the novel kept me turning the pages, but when I hit the ending, I felt dissatisfied with how the "mystery" turned out. It was a bit "out of the blue" and didn't seem to blend well with the rest of the novel. However, I don't think that the ending seriously detracts from the novel--I still recommend it. Welcome to the World Baby Girl! is a fun and easy read.
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Summary: Loved it!!!
Review: This was my first Fannie Flagg book and I really enjoyed it. The story continually switches from the past to the present and I initially found it confusing but came to appreciate the way it was written. I really felt for the main character of Dena. In the beginning I thought she was a bit shallow and selfish with her life spiraling out of control but by the end I found myself cheering her on and appreciating her for what she went through. The book slowly weaves characters in and out of the story and you wonder how the pieces fit together but by the end of the book everything comes together like a tightly wrapped package.
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Summary: At a loss for an ending?
Review: I enjoy Fannie Flagg's writing, and I love the way she depicts small town life. In this book, some of the characters are lovable, with the exception of the main character, Dena. She seems to have no personality whatsoever. The book held my interest long enough to finish it, but the ending appeared as though Fannie sort of made it up as she went along. All of this mystery and intrigue are built up throughout the book, only to let the reader down in the end.
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Summary: Welcome to Some Wonderful Reading
Review: After reading Standing in the Rainbow, I was more than happy to revisit some of its people and places in Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! It was another enjoyable trip. As an author myself, of NEW PSALMS FOR NEW MOMS: A KEEPSAKE JOURNAL (Judson Press), I appreciate her focus on the importance and value of family. Thanks again, Fannie Flagg!
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Summary: Not her best, but not bad
Review: I love Fannie Flagg as an author and personality. This book wasn't bad - not great, but not bad either. She stereotyped a bit and most of the characters were very one dimensional. I thought the story revolving around her mother and uncle could have been been intriguing but the thread wasn't expanded enough - too much emphasis on the cardboard character Dena. This may have been a better book had the story primarily taken place in retrospect like 'Fried Green Tomatoes' did. I also thought the end was very interesting: the small little town that she had escaped to had started to become exactly what she had left behind! The story came full circle and I would like to have seen how the local yocals took to the changes. Many reviewers said that the 'shocking' secret was boring. If you think about it, this is a wonderful thing that people found it not so shocking after all. I think this is what Fannie was striving for but it just didn't come across with much of an impact. I started to listen to this as an audio and had to switch to hardcopy after becoming so confused. The transitions from chapter to chapter are very confusing as audio and I listened to the wrong sequence of sides twice - without noticing. And, finally, I have to get my dig in about language. Not a single swear word in the book - always refreshing to me.
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Summary: Not so impressed
Review: This was the first book I have read for fun in a long time. As a flat read, the book is alright. I read it for a book club, and the more I thought about it, the less I liked it. The book has a surprise toward the end. I mean it is a surprise...no foreshadowing and only one "kind of" clue to even hint at it. Whenever a surprise is revealed to me, I like to ponder it and say "oh, that's what she meant by such-and-such earlier" but there was none of that - it came completely out of left field. I had to wonder if Flagg herself even knew what the surprise was going to be. I also felt that Flagg was trying to make too many social commentaries and didn't lend enough time to each one. So as not to give the surprise away, I can't tell you what they are... My book club thinks she was just writing a story for story's sake, but I still don't think it really works. The "interview" between Tenessee Williams and the main character was distracting, and unless you are a fan, or know what he went through in the last years of his life, the impact of the whole thing is severely lacking. All-in-all, if you read this book, expect it to be primarily about integrity in journalism and standing up for your ideals...kind of. Don't, however, try to dig deeper, because you won't find much.
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