Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!

This was a fun and fast read, in spite of the fact it's a big fat book. Flagg writes in short chapters and punchy prose. The author does a great job of pealing the onion of the story. It starts with normal people in small town America and a cousin - Dena, the "Baby Girl" of the title - who is a hotshot reporter in New York. Flagg bounces back and forth in time slowly unfolding Dena's murky history as we realize the investigative reporter has never examined the mysteries in her own life: her father, dead in WWII before she was born; her mother's furtive life moving them from place to place and finally disappearing. The ending is surprising and satisfying. Flagg also delivers a blistering critique of network news and her usual paean to show more small town living. Highly recommend this one. show less

I had fun reading this story. There are so many ridiculous characters that you just gotta love. I also didn't figure out the whole deal with her mother ahead of time. I wouldn't have guessed that. There's lots of sadness and laughs and heart.

Fannie Flagg does a spectacular job of diving into these charachter's lives. The detail she spends helping this book come to life is amazing. Starting off in the early 40's she bounces back and forth between that era and one's later in the 20th century with great ease. As the story develops you find yourself laughing, crying, and worrying right along with these people you have come to love (and sometimes hate). This book was nearly impossible to put down. It ony took me two days to read, as I wanted to get back to their world as muchs my world would allow. This is one good book.

Flannery O'Connor is still my favorite southern female writer, but Fannie Flagg certainly deserves a spot in the premier league. I've read Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café and this, with Standing in the Rainbow on my To Read list.

I even perceive a bit of overlap between Tomatoes and Baby Girl, in the characters of Dot Weems and Neighbor Dorothy. In Tomatoes, Dot Weems was the publisher of the local newspaper, really a full-length Page Six. In Baby Girl, Neighbor Dorothy runs a small radio show out of her front bedroom, "and the news is mostly good."

Well, I loved it!!! Humor, mystery, love, nostalgia, sorrow, anger, and things that make you think!

I like it even more. In the back of the book, she tells about who she based the characters on and the conversation with Tennessee Williams was based on her own conversation with him. Tiny print but it is so good, I don’t notice it. All I did was to hold the book closer to my eyes.

This book gets at what is truly important in life and it is one of those books that you really want to hug. Thank you, Fannie Flagg!

I first saw this book on a list of "Gentle Reads" at my local library.

I don't think it is.

It's got a lot to say about racism, prejudice, addiction, anxiety, family problems, etc. And the end-all argument is mostly good. The relationship between the main character and her eventual object of affection was quite realistic (which I appreciated). Flagg does a nice job weaving things together and modernly setting us up for the eventual reveals. But they didn't need to couch it all in language that my grandmother would find offensive. Which is probably why I won't pick up another one in the series.

Which I'm kinda bummed about, because much good is said of this particular author, both in the critical community and by Dick van Dyke (who show more apparently used to work with her when she did television). I wonder if all the television stuff in this novel is based on real life.... show less

This book is one of the best ones I've read in a very long time. It tells the story of Dena Nordstrom, America's blonde haired, blue eyed #1 female newsperson in the 1970's. The book jumps back and forth between the 1940's and how Dena's parents met and her childhood, to 1978 New York City. It could easily get confusing, but Fannie Flagg writes it so flawlessly it isn't hard to follow at all.

It mainly centers around Dena and how her life is out of control - she drinks too much, goes out too often and cannot handle any type of relationship. And on top of all that, now she has a bleeding ulcer. What's a girl to do? Go see a psychiatrist. Only problem there is, the second she walks in his office, he falls in love with her. So he refers her show more to another doctor, aptly named Dr. Diggers, who keeps asking her questions about her childhood and her mother in particular.

What can Dena tell her? Her mother was a very private person and Dena did not know her well at all. During Christmas break one year, Dena flys to her mother's apartment in Chicago, only to find that her mother has disappeared off the face of the earth. Why? Where did she disappear to? What secrets was she keeping? Was her mother a Nazi spy? A sleazy reporter thinks so, and he would like nothing better than to destroy Dena and her reputation. Dena has to put the past to rest and the only way to do that is by solving the mystery of her mother's past and what exactly happened to her.

Along the way in this book, you meet some interesting characters, mainly in the town of Elmwood Springs, Missouri - Dena's hometown and the place where she finally becomes whole again.

4 stars out of 5 show less