Standing in the Rainbow (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
by Fannie Flagg
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Book Summary Information
Author: Fannie FlaggEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-08-03
ISBN: 0345452887
Number of pages: 560
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of Standing in the Rainbow (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
Book Review: Elmwood Springs has something for everyone
Summary: 5 Stars
Life is a Miracle!
Standing in the Rainbow was my first step into the world of Elmwood Springs. I sure wish I could move to this sweet little town in Missouri! Flagg introduces to the colorful, caring characters of Elmwood Springs. Neighbor Dorothy hosts a morning radio show on the AM dial. Her husband, Doc, is the town's pharmacist. Her two children, Anna Lee and Bobby, experience all the ups and downs of childhood. We watch this town and its characters move through the end of the second World War and well into the 90s.
Flagg weaves many characters in and out of the story. Dorothy is the nucleus of the story, as many central sub-plots stem from her house. All of their experiences can be traced back to Neighbor Dorothy and her WDOT broadcast. This includes the metamorphosis of Betty Raye; she goes from homely misfit gospel "singer" to somewhat sophisticated politician.
This book flows like a soap opera. Some chapters will be more interesting than others. Personally, I was sick of the Betty Raye saga, especially once she befriended Vita. But, that's how soap opera fans interact with their shows; we love some characters and ignore others. I wanted to skip the parts about Betty Raye's political problems, but I was so moved by Neighbor Dorothy (and her legacy) that I couldn't find it in my heart not to continue with that sub-plot.
Flagg's does an excellent job of creating interesting characters. Simply put, these characters are simple, positive, but also very real. (A big change from the inconclastic heroines with which I was familiar.) Woven throughout the book are positive messages about life, love, and family. The book is filled with "girl power", yes, the simple "girl power" type stuff of the late 90s. Again, simple, basic, and positive. (Very helpful for a born and bread erudite liberal pagan agnostic feminist turned southern conservative Christian woman.)
If you're a big fan of soaps, definitely read this book. You'll be very satisfied!
Summary of Standing in the Rainbow (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
Good news! Fannie?s back in town--and the town is among the leading characters in her new novel.Along with Neighbor Dorothy, the lady with the smile in her voice, whose daily radio broadcasts keep us delightfully informed on all the local news, we also meet Bobby, her ten-year-old son, destined to live a thousand lives, most of them in his imagination; Norma and Macky Warren and their ninety-eight-year-old Aunt Elner; the oddly sexy and charismatic Hamm Sparks, who starts off in life as a tractor salesman and ends up selling himself to the whole state and almost the entire country; and the two women who love him as differently as night and day. Then there is Tot Whooten, the beautician whose luck is as bad as her hairdressing skills; Beatrice Woods, the Little Blind Songbird; Cecil Figgs, the Funeral King; and the fabulous Minnie Oatman, lead vocalist of the Oatman Family Gospel Singers.
The time is 1946 until the present. The town is Elmwood Springs, Missouri, right in the middle of the country, in the midst of the mostly joyous transition from war to peace, aiming toward a dizzyingly bright future.
Once again, Fannie Flagg gives us a story of richly human characters, the saving graces of the once-maligned middle classes and small-town life, and the daily contest between laughter and tears. Fannie truly writes from the heartland, and her storytelling is, to quote Time, "utterly irresistible."
From the Hardcover edition.
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