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Summary: Bailey's Cafe sees it all
Review: Bailey's cafe in 1940s Chicago is not your typical cafe -- there is no menu. You get whatever item they're serving any day of the week except Saturday, when you can have ANYTHING you want. But if you order it --- even peanut butter with pickles --- you have to eat it. Many different people pass through Bailey's, and each has a sad story to tell. There's Miss Maple, a straight man who enjoys dressing in women's clothing, and he tells you why in a story about how he looked for work after getting a PhD from Stanford. There's Eve who runs a boardinghouse that some would call a brothel. Beautiful Peaches who couldn't stand what her beauty did to her. Jesse Bell, who married into a family of snobs. And mariam, a girl from Ethiopia who may well be giving birth to a miracle. The stories are written in a straightforward and conversational style to make you feel you're there in the cafe talking to them. I was sorry when I got to the last page, because you know the characters have just told you about their lives thus far --- and that there is a lot more to be lived. Makes you wish you could keep going to Bailey's Cafe to find out the rest.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Bad
Review: I did not care too much for this book. I closed it wondering if I perhaps missed the point of it all. It seemed more like a character profile than a novel.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! I missed that..
Review: I loved this book from start to finish. I love Ms. Naylor's writing, her development of character and ability to look at the difficult parts of life without being depressing is one of her hallmarks. Heads in the sand don't cut it with Gloria.
But, reading the reviews, I don't remember all the characters were dead at the end (?) and I didn't realize some of them tied in to her other books. Fascinating. Now I have to go read it again--goody!
The thing I DO remember most from this book was the way one of the characters was taken off heroin. That method is brutal, but you know I think it would work. Not without compassion, nonetheless.
Add Gloria Naylor to your list of best authors if you like well developed characters, and meaningful writing.
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Summary: Should've Made A Movie Based On This Book
Review: I read this book about a year ago and I must say that this was one of the best novels I've read and my first of Gloria Naylor's. I plan on reading it again and I am sure to get something new out of it. As other reviewers have commented, the stories of the customers of BAILEY'S CAFE are sad, inspirational and funny at the sametime. I've heard that all the customers are actually dead, ghosts caught in bewteen life and death. There was a hint of this when I first read it but I didn't quite pick up on it. Well, I have yet to any other novel from Naylor. This novel talks about issues of racism, class status and there's a little religion and philosophy intertwined in the mix. A great read!
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Summary: I wasn't moved.
Review: I typically determine which books I should bother to read by considering the ones I've read before. I had read Gloria Naylor's Mama Day and thought it to be a wonderful book: powerful in its mysticism and a wonderful warning about the behaviors of humankind. I was less impressed with this work. The main characters, Bailey and his wife Nadine, are underdeveloped and less than fully likeable. The short sketches of backstory provided to give the reader insight are...well...boring, to put it mildly. The plot is constructed by assigning secondary characters their own chapters and letting them tell the story of how they arrived at the "magical" cafe. There is no beginning, middle, or end so the reader comes away feeling like they've been preached at by a reverend who doesn't recount a parable well enough to make a point. The one device that moved me in the work was the Ethiopian Jewess whom was added to disrupt the flow of activity in and around the cafe. She arrives late in the work and inevitably proved to be all that I cared about. As a walking contradiction she made me think, but given the context of the surrounding novel, I was unsure of what I should be thinking about. Naylor was trying to make a point. As open as I was to receiving it, it never reached me.
Rating:
Summary: Pull Up A Seat
Review: I was introduced to Gloria Naylor when the rest of the world was and that was with the production of The Women of Brewster Place as a made for TV movie. Since then, I avoided the hype that was heaped upon her and in doing so avoided her books. Well, I'm over that. Way over that. I'd heard someone mention Bailey's Cafe in passing and said, "It's good." I don't know what book they were reading, but this was nothing short of spectacular. It's been a long time since I've read a book with so many layers and complexities, to say nothing of the angst and tension that lived within each character. I find myself reflecting on it often. There is something so fantastic about each character and yet I feel as if I could pass someone like them on the street at anytime. Gloria Naylor is an excellent storyteller and I regret that I robbed myself of such an enriching experience. I have seldom been so moved by literature and I was sad when I finished it.
Rating: 
Summary: Innovative presentation; eccentric characters
Review: Naylor mines the denizens of a neighborhood, most of whom eat at Bailey's Cafe, for this collection of short stories, each of which inter-relates some way to the others. There are wonderful characters in this book, and each gets an opportunity to tell his or her own story, each using a very unique voice.
This fairly recent technique of writing stories on a similar theme, set in a common location, is catching on. Did Naylor start the trend with Women of Brewster Place? Whatever. It's a good idea, and Bailey's Cafe is a welcome addition to the genre.
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Summary: Why I Loved The Cafe ...................
Review: This book made me want to jump inside and take a seat in the cafe. I mean, I am a college student and I missed some class trying to read this book. From the first page, Ms. Naylor sucks you in with what I call poetry in motion. The words were so beautiful that it was hard to belive you were reading stories of tragedy. From Mrs. Maple the transvestite to Sadie whose mother often referred to her as "the one the clothes hanger missed", it was hard to believe that there are people in the world going through these kinds of tragedies. I dont' want to give the storyline away, but if you want a different type of read, not the kind you read in an hour and forget about then this is the book. I am still sitting here wondering abotu the characters lives and what they would be doing.
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Summary: Bailey's It's what's for dinner!
Review: This is the first Naylor book I ever read. I have now read them all. This book, along with Mama Day and to some extent Linden Hills put her in my trinty of greatest living writers, along with Morrison and Kingsolver. The technique of introducing us to the "customers" at Bailey's is a great way to tie together so many wonderful stories. All of her characters are beautiful, sweet sad and doomed. Between the happy little wife who becomes a wino prostitute and the little delta girl who can never wash the delta dust off, I cried and I fell in love a hundred times (and I'm a big tough souther nwhite male). I notice some of the other reviewers had a hard time "following" Naylor at times. My suggestion is just ride the story, do not try to see what's coming or what she means. It is like the most wonderful meal in the world, put it in your mouth and savor it, don't spend too much time trying to figure out what the chef was thinking, its all about taste and feel. This is one of the 10 best books written since Faulkner died, in my opinion, and Mama Day is another of those 10. Enjoy!
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Summary: A rich read.
Review: This is, and has for a long time, been one of my favorite books. It is a complete package. Naylor's characters are chock full of depth, her writing is lyrical and her tales are down-right fascinating. While it's difficult to find an author these days who can provide the reader even *one* of those things, Naylor gives us the whole she-bang. Although written with humor, this novel is somewhat of a difficult read: there is an undeniable sadness surrounding many of the characters (even when re-reading it, I can hardly get through the chapter "Mood: Indigo"). Although it's easy to be saddened by the stories, it's important to note that hope, respect and recovery are common themes throughout the book. The Cafe itself is supposed to be a surreal bedrock of healing. I found this book more accessible than "Mama Day," and a little more heart-wringing than "The Women of Brewster Place." All and all, it's deeply satisfying and comes *highly* recommended. Bring on more Naylor, please!
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