Customer Reviews

The Bingo Queens of Paradise

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

There are certain books we read which strike a chord in our hearts and fill our eyes with tears. And when we finish these books, we find ourselves wishing we could go back and read them again for the first time. The Bingo Queens of Paradise by June Park is one of a handful of books which did this to me and I am so glad I found this author.

In her first novel, June Park, has written a keeper in the tradition of Billie Letts' books Where the Heart Is and The Honk and Holler Opening Soon. Like these books, The Bingo Queens of Paradise introduces the reader to memorable characters who remain part of our lives long after we finish the book.

Paradise is a small town in Oklahoma where trailers are found almost everywhere. The nightly activity in this town is a good game of Bingo where an interesting group of women who name themselves the Bingo Queens assemble. Among the women is Momma Moon, mother to Darla and Rhonda. These two sisters have grown up taking care of each other while their mother pays more attention to her male customers and Bingo games. While Darla works in Paradise, she dreams about moving to New York City to design dresses. Her younger sister, Rhonda, already the mother of two children, is married for the second time to an abusive husband she can't seem to leave.

The one man the two sisters have relied on for most of their lives is a black man, Elijah, who is the only person who is consistently there for them. It is Elijah who more than anybody encourages Darla to put Pardise behind her, and move on with her life in New York where she can pursue her dream. As Darla finally plans to leave events occur which will not only test her but may force her to face a great loss and perhaps alter her dreams.

This book is not always easy to read. There are scenes which are quite sad particularly when the reader learns all that Darla and Rhonda had to endure as they grew up. I found that at times Momma Moon was so cruel, uncaring and selfish, I had all but to do to compose myself and continue reading. For me it was as if these were real women living in a small town nearby and I had a glimpse into their lives. But I did continue reading as I knew I would and now consider this title one of my top ten reads for 2001. I did wonder at the end if Darla would ever leave Paraidse and found tears on my face when I closed the book and wished her a godspeed on her continuing journey.

I do hope that you enjoy this book as much as I did. As for me, I've already reread this book twice and am eagerly waiting for this authors next book. For me, this title can't be published fast enough.

When several friends read this book, they claimed it was funny, sassy and sweet ~~ but I didn't find it that way. It is sassy ~~ but also depressing. It does start out slow, but after awhile, you really get into the book. The names are even hilarious and the love stories are bittersweet.

Darla Moon is the child of a semi-retired hooker mother, raised on the leavenings of welfare, and she dreams big dreams of moving to New York to become a designer, only her ties to her family remain too strong for her to leave with a light heart. There's Spirit, the minister who falls in love with her; Rhonda, her sister who is married to a classic drunk who beats her; Elijah, the father-figure in her life; Granny, who has lost quite a few marbles in her head ~~ but remains one of the sweetest and central persons in Darla's life. There are the kids, Jessie and Pearl, Rhonda's kids, who are the loves of Darla's life. And there is Bingo ~~ every week, twice a week, bingo playing is the main central thing in their lives. As Darla prepares to move on with her life, all sorts of things happen to keep her rooted to her roots. Till she discovers the freedom of being her own person.

If you're looking for a heavier reading, I would not recommend this book. If you're looking for a lighter, bittersweet book to read while on car trips, or heading to the beach, then I would suggest that you pick this book up. It is depressing in some places ~~ life is too real to really be comfortable with this book as an escapism. But it is a book that you won't quickly forget.

When I started this book, it wasn't something that I would have picked for myself (I read it for a book club). What a surpise this book was! A pleasant surprise. It starts out rather funny, and then you find yourself in the lives of these lovely, real characters. I found this book funny, caring and sad all at the same time. I cared about Darla and all her life pressures (some she gave herself), and Rhonda and hoping she would find a way to stand up for herself and her children. I kept reading to find how Granny got to be the way she was and why Elijah came with this poor family where ever they went.

This story made me care about every character, the quirky ones, the means ones and the loveable one. I highly recommend this book.

This book is a cure for all that ails you. Take one dose of reality, one-half dose of dysfunctional families, add a touch of love and the result is a prescription for happiness. Settle down with a few Moon Pies and enter a world where the characters are real, the setting is memorable, and the story is one that will touch the heart. It's not a book to read just once....you will want to know Darla and meet her family. It's a book that has a piece of all of us within its tale. Darla wants to leave Paradise, but I was happy to visit it, if only for a little while. The author is a gem...just like her book.

Last year I started several books and set them aside---until I started reading The Bingo Queens of Paradise. Then I bingoed big time! This book has everything I love in a novel -- believable characters I can identify with, characters who face and deal with problems in life as I try to do, and a story so real I feel like I'm living it. After finishing the book, the wisdom and gentleness of Elijah, the strength of Darla and the wit of granny has remained a part of me. And I plan to read The Bingo Queens of Paradise again, and again and again....

I'm undecided about this book.If you were in a down mood when reading it, the story of these poor pathetic characters could tumble you right over the edge but the author manages to keep you buoyed up with the faint hope that somehow,these drab, unfulfilled lived could be improved. The heroine, Darla, is trapped in an almost empty town with a sluttish mother who is the town prostitute and a pathetic weed of a sister who is married to a drunken,wife beating husband and despite her dreams of becoming a top fashion designer, is perpetually held back by a moral sense of responsibility to her family. I enjoyed the book in a funny sort of way but was almost relieved when it finished.

"The Bingo Queens of Paradise" kept me up all night! I was totally riveted to the story, I laughed, I wept bitterly and I cheered heartily for Darla! This is a smart, lyrical and totally modern coming of age story...the best to occupy my reading list in a long time. I wait anxiously for June Park's next work. BRAVO!

Reading the back cover of this book, you don't realize fully what your getting into. This is a very dark and depressing look at a poor family in Paradise, Oklahoma. I thought this was going to be another light southern fiction book that I'd love, but instead I got a book filled with prostitution, sex, rape, murder, child and spousal abuse. I could only take this book in little doses, seeing as how it's such a downer.

It took me a while to finish, the story was intersesting enough to make me want to know how it ended, but not enough for me to read it in one day. I don't know that I'd recommend this to anyone, it being such a dreary book and all...but if your interested in reading it, it's not a bad story, I just wasn't expecting it.

As I read this novel, I could not help but compare it to those written by Billie Letts (Where the Heart Is and The Honk & Holler Opening Soon). Both authors are Oklahoma residents, and write about people living on the fringe. Like Ms. Letts, Ms. Park also creates vivid characters, although I did not find all of those in "Bingo Queens" quite as developed. However, the interaction between these individuals -- some more empathetic than others -- was believable and engrossing.

The both tragic and inspiring story centers around Darla Moon, daughter of the town whore, and aspiring dress designer, dying to leave the small "town" of Paradise for greener pastures in New York. Darla's courage, independence, loyalty and love for those around her carry her through a series of trials and tribulations.

I agree with at least one of the other reviewers that this novel takes a while to get rolling, although I'm not quite sure why. However, I could barely put it down for the last two-thirds (the first third would generate a less-than-five-stars rating). In fact, part of me wishes that the author would write a sequel, because I'm dying to know how things turn out.

The author is to be commended for her compelling first novel.

This is a very well written debut novel. It is the story about the city of Paradise and the people that live there. At the center of the novel are Darla, her sister Rhonda, their dear family friend Elijah, their hooker mother Roxie and can't forget the grandmother Sophie and her collection of imaginary frogs.

Life in the city of Paradise for this faminly is pretty rough and depressing. Darla wants to move from Paradise and work with dress designers in New York City. Although that is her dream, she must first deal with an uncaring and irresponsible mother, a terminally ill sister, an abusive brother in law, a mentally challanged grandmother and life's memories. It is her ability to handle all of these events in a rather cynical manner which adds to the characters and the novel.

This is the story of the not so pleasant side of life in rural America. The characters deal with very real situations and a smattering of faith and religion is added to enhance the story line. Pretty impressive for a first novel.