Candy B. (
candieb) from AUSTIN, TX wrote on 2/18/2007...
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
I found this one kind of funny, but more than that, it was a really well done storyline. I found myself rooting for Dena, hoping she'd find her way into her life, her character felt so empty for the vast majority of the book, it was sad really. Fannie Flagg is a most excellent writer, her characters jump off of the page at you. While Dena was meeting with Tennesee Williams, I could smell the ocean air of New Orleans and hear him talking... very well done. Definitely worth a read!
Becca C. (
Lindyhoppr) from FORT DRUM, NY wrote on 9/16/2007...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
I usually love Fannie Flagg, but this book was not quite up to her usual standards. The plot only works if you keep in mind the time setting; otherwise the ending is slightly disappointing
ANNA S. (
SanJoseCa) from SAN JOSE, CA wrote on 8/26/2007...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
The theme of the novel is about change and how the main charater (an Oprah-like personality)surives all her life long struggles. The author jumps around a lot in years and time periods, but I thing it adds to the story and makes it more fun to follow. Great plot, great characters, and the charm of the south shines through. At times you will cry, at other times you will laugh, wonderful book!
B.J. T. (
meme) from FORT SMITH, AR wrote on 11/29/2006...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
With home-cooked, Southern literary flair, Fannie Flagg (Fried Green Tomatoes) returns with Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! "Baby Girl," as she is lovingly referred to by her sweet, country cousins, is Dena Nordstrom, a tall, blonde, corn-fed girl who makes it big in Manhattan. Ms. Nordstrom is now the top TV anchorwoman in the city, beating out veteran journalists and making ungodly amounts of money. Although her life seems charmed, Dena is frazzled and miserable. She drinks uncontrollably, is a borderline compulsive liar, and is forced to undergo therapy because of her stress-induced ulcer. Her psychiatrist, Dr. O'Malley, falls madly in love with her, of course, and sends the blonde bombshell to a close colleague, Dr. Diggers. Living up to her name, Diggers shovels up a mountain of dysfunction and forces Dena to face her mysterious past; all the while the good doctor reports back to brokenhearted O'Malley about her patient's progress. Meanwhile, back at the station, Ms. Nordstrom has made friends and enemies in very high places. Her greatest ally is Howard Kingsley, the Cronkitesque reporter who wields power with more ease than most seasoned politicos: "He closed the door and handed the driver a ten-dollar bill. 'Take this young lady where she wants to go for me, will you? And be careful, she's valuable property.'" It's a good thing she has friends like that, because her boss, Ira Wallace, makes George Costanza from Seinfeld look like a scrupulous saint. When Wallace hires a nasty but effective mole by the name of Sidney Capello to dig up garbage on celebrities, Nordstrom has a head-on collision with his sense of ethics (or lack thereof) and gets Capello canned. Or so she thinks. Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! is very much like its star, Dena Nordstrom: pretty, scattered, confused, and sometimes interesting. It's a long ride from the Whistle Stop Cafe, and readers who enjoy Jan Karon's Mitford Fall series will most likely be the biggest fans of Flagg's third novel.