Customer Reviews

Buster Midnight's Cafe

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Everyone will love Buster Midnight's Cafe. I found this book while browsing the Contemporary Literature section of a bookstore in Manhattan and was intrigued by both it's title and it's cover. I was so engrossed in the story from the very start that I was regretful each time my train arrived to or from work.

Sandra Dallas' use of the vernacular and her unique ability to make us laugh and cry while maintaining the suspense of the story was heartwarming. You will come to love every character in this book for who they are and for the very special relationship they share.

Set in a coal mining town, Butte, Montana, beginning at the end of the depression and continuing through WWII, these characters are down to earth, imperfect and lovable. Sandra Dallas has an uncanny way of telling her story and everyone I have recommended this book to has returned to me with thanks for the recommendation and as much love for the story as I had.

I read it three times and I'm looking forward to reading it again.

You may also want to read Dallas', "The Diary of Mattie Spencer" which I also found compelling. Her, "Persian Pickle Club" failed to hold my attention though. But SIX stars for Buster and Mattie!

I have read The Persian Pickle Club, The Diary of Mattie Spencer and finally Buster Midnight's Cafe. They were all terrific but Buster Midnight's Cafe is my favorite. I laughed and cried and hated for the book to end. Sandra Dallas has written a wonderful book about life-long friendships that grow stonger despite life's hardships. The character Effa Commander writes and reflects back on growing up in the small town of Butte and the different paths taken by those in her group of friends. The support and love they have for one another is unconditional and never ending. A truly enjoyable read!

Sandra Dallas does a wonderful job of engaging the reader in this work, keeps the pace lively yet does not invite you to jump ahead. Set in Butte, MT, the story is about three girls (The Unholy Three) growing up in the hell-roaring days of mining in Montana. The relationships forged become life long friendships, strained and estranged by hard life, war, and death. One of the three becomes a teen prostitute and goes on to movie stardom. The touching account of the lives and relationships between these girls will make you laugh and make you cry. Anyone from Montana or familiar with Butte should enjoy this book. An excellent use of the language from Butte and accurate depictions of the characters. Native to Montana and married to a daughter of the Anaconda company, I gotta say both my wife and I loved this book!

The last book I read this fast was "The Persian Pickle Club," also by Sandra Dallas. I cried, I laughed, I didn't want the story to end. The adventures of "The Unholy Three" would also make an excellent mini-series or a movie (provided that the author had total control). Sandra Dallas has written a brilliant and very emotionally touching book. Perhaps I'm just a very sensitive person, but to me, reading her books are an EXPERIENCE, not just something to pass the time with. By the end I felt like I had grown up with May Anna, Whippy Bird, and Effa Commander. If Butte is even half as interesting as it is in this book, I want to visit!

I loved this book and had a terrible time tearing myself away. These three women deal with what life hands them in a "matter of fact" way and then, with the help,love and full support of each other carry on. Friendship, is the essence of this book, undying and everlastng frienship. What a wonderful thing to experience! As they grow old together their lives change in many ways but these women have what it takes to make them happy, themselves. They know that the responsibility of living a full and happy life lies soley on them yet the admirable thing about this is that they seem to have always known this just as they know that friendship is a commitment which they do not take lightly.

Mae Anna Kovacks was discovered on the dusty streets of Butte Montana, and went on to become a Hollywood star. War, fame, marriage, and love came and went. What never changed was the bond she shared with her two best friends, Effa Commander and Whippy Bird (what names!). When scandal, murder, and betrayal made a legend of Mae Anna, only her friends could set the record straight.

Told by Effa Commander, the story weaves personal details of the other lives into the "story behind the legend." Though Effa Commander and Whippy Bird remain hometown girls, the code of their friendship marks them as the real heroes of the story--not the beautiful Mae Anna, Hollywood's Marion Street.

This is an extremely touching book. The simple characters, Effa Commander and Whippy Bird, are of course the richest. They humbly live through their own personal tragedies and still find the courage to remain steadfast to their "weaker" friend.

I have now read all of Sandra Dallas' books, and this one was by far my favorite. I loved reading about Effa Commander, Whippy Bird, May Anna and the rest of the gang. They're such a fun bunch.

This book is about Effa Commander and Whippy Bird getting out the true story about the lives of their two best friends Marion Street (May Anna) and Buster Midnight. May Anna grew up to be a famous Hollywood starlet and Buster a champion boxer. This is mainly their tale, but we also get to learn about Effa and Whippy.

Hollywood has tarnished the reputation of Buster Midnight after a grissly murder involving he and May Anna, and Effa and Whippy Bird are tired of it. So they've decided to 'set the record straight' and let everyone know the real Marion Street and Buster Midnight. How they grew up, what they we're like and the relationship between all of them. And it's quite a story!

This is a really hard book to put down. If your a fan of Ms. Dallas you'll LOVE this story. I was very sad to see it end. I really recommend this book, and only hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Strolling through my local SAM's, I discovered Sandra Dallas' trade paperbacks, and I'm hooked, and recommending them all. The Unholy Trio of May Anna, Whippy Bird, and Effa Commander are the real hooks of this wonderful retrospective fiction about the local poor girl who makes it big. It fascinates me to read of the depression era and of the spunk of kids who survive it and live to full lifetimes still linked to one another. Such cleverness and close friendships make me feel as if I know these people/characters. I've never really been to Butte, Montana, nor understood the ways of a mining town, but this delightful tome makes me feel as though I know it just the same. Dallas' characters remind me of the joy I have found in Fannie Flagg's work. I have recommended Sandra Dallas to various readers and found them to be equally pleased. Buster Midnight's Cafe with its secrets and humor is a marvelously relaxing read.

I first read "Buster Midnight's Cafe" upon it's original release in 1990. I loved the book then, and I loved it even more in 2008. The story of Effa Commander and Whippy Bird sharing the plight of their lives in wild, wooly, wicked Butte, MT in the early 30's is unforgettable. Poor children of miners, they grow up with the appreciation for family, home, best friends, pranks, dancing, and good brewsky. Though poor by some standards, they are rich in spunk, vitality, acceptance, humility, and devotion.

May Anna Kovaks befriends Effa and Whippy Bird on a cold day in Butte. Considered the most beautiful girl in town, May Anna has her sights set on Hollywood. However, life's pitfalls alter her dreams for a stretch, but never overtakes them. With assistance from Effa, Whippy Bird and Buster Midnight(a famous fighter reared in the Butte saloons) May Anna's dream comes to fruition. Her plume becomes Marion Street, a name the three friends chose right off a neighborhood street sign. A masterful mystery is weaved as Marion achieves her goals in Hollywood, while Effa and Whippy meet their destinies in Butte.

Though the mystery is exciting, my affections are with the precisely developed characters of these three women from a small coal town in Montana. Historically accurate, their is no false ring to the setting and time. Sandra Dallas is such a genius of this genre. To date I have read all but her latest book; that is coming as I just adore Dallas's writing techniques and soul felt characters.

Effa and Whippy Bird are so near and dear to me that each time I pass by Butte, MT I want to turn off and find Buster Midnight's Cafe. Thanks to Sandra I always can in my imagination.

I was amazed at how addicted I was to this book. I had never read anything by Dallas before and I could not get enough. The characters were fun and refreshing. The unexpected twists and plots made this a good read for me. I highly suggest this book to anyone who wants to have a fun and new experience. True friendship is put to the test of time.