Bingo

Rating:
Summary: "Number 29,number 29, to win is divine!"
Review: "The stands cheered the skunk, not Ursie. The skunk stood her ground and shooed her babies back into the nest. She waited with cool precision for the arrival of this rabid human." A big grin covers my face and I chuckle as I read about the snobbish Ursie Yost being publicly humiliated as she chases a skunk. A gift of love to the main character, Nickle Smith, touches my heart. Bingo is a book that I will read time and time agian. It is a book filled with everything: joy, sorrow, pain jealosy, laughter, failer, success, romance, mischief, and love. Set in the New England town of Runnymede, the unforgettable characters weave in and out of the story,, always with a tidbit of gossip to share. Middle aged Nickle Smith is going through a period of time in her life that requires some major decisions. She is trying to by the newspaper wher she works as an editor. Her affair ends in an unexpected manner. And on top of that, her mother and aunt, the spirted Hunsenmeir sisters, argue and make public displays as they hanker after the same man. With the loving support of her family and friends, Nickle somehow pulls through. I recived a book for christmas called Loose Lips. I liked so much that I bought another book in the triogy, Bingo. There is another, Six of One , which I have yet to read and am looking forward to.

Rating:
Summary: Also a tale of a woman's love for newspapering
Review: First off, I loved Bingo and have re-read it many times. Many of my general thoughts are already well said in other reviews, so I want to add an offbeat one. Bingo also tells a story about a woman's love for her career, newspapering, and how that career is endangered by the sale of "her" paper to a big company. Brown nails that part of the story -- her descriptions of how it feels when the "big guy" arrives on the doorstep of the little paper are dead on. I lived through that same situation, with less happy results, and Nickel's reactions ring very true. In this era of mergers and buyouts, that's another reason to read Bingo. Share the book with a friend or three.

Rating:
Summary: A Real Can't-Put-It-Down, Laugh-Out-Loud Romp
Review: Nicole "Nickle" Smith's life is more than slightly schizoid: she lives in Runnymead, a small town that straddles the Mason-Dixon line, with all the cultural division that implies; her life is dominated by her elderly adoptive mother Julia "Juts" and Juts' equally neurotic sister Louise "Wheeze;" the tiny newspaper she loves and works for is about to be sold out from under her; and she is a self-avowed lesbian having an affair with her best friend's... husband? Needless to say, the situation is ripe for comedy--particularly when St. Rose of Lima's weekly bingo game, at which most of the townfolk meet without fail, begins a move toward a big-pot game known as "Blackout" and Juts and Wheeze, both in their eighties, begin to compete over the same man.

BINGO is not one of Rita Mae Brown's most literary efforts--it is too loosely structured for that--but it is surely one of her most beloved novels, effectively juggling eccentric characters and ridiculous situations with Brown's own take on modern morality. A particular joy are the supporting characters, which are presented with tremendous appeal: Mr. Pierre, the town's effeminate hairdresser; the massively overweight Verna BonTon and her endless family; the feuding law enforcement officers; the yuppie cub reporter--all presented with considerable aplomb and charm and sharpness. Everything adds up to one of the most hilarious things you'll ever read, a real can't-put-it-down, laugh-out-loud book that will have you sitting up half the night trying to silence your hoots lest you wake the neighbors. The setting, characters, and one-liners are extremely memorable, funny, and remarkably honest, and this is one you'll return again and again. I know I have! Recommended.