Fancy Strut (Ballantine Reader's Circle) [Paperback]

Lee Smith (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ballantine Reader's Circle | Publication Date: September 29, 1996

Speed, Alabama, is frantically preparing for the event of a lifetime: Sesquicentennial Week. And all her proud citizens are kicking up their heels in a lively, pompous fancy strut....

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Deft and assured . . . Smith’s seemingly effortless work is a considerable feat. . . . She is nothing less than masterly.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“[LEE SMITH] RE-CREATES A VANISHED WAY OF LIFE WITH STUNNING AUTHENTICITY.”
—The Philadelphia Inquirer

“SMITH OFFERS RIPE ENTERTAINMENT.”
—People

“[She] brings the storytelling gift off the porch swing and onto the printed page with an often breathtaking vitality. . . . A writer of rare talent.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A SPELLBINDING STORYTELLER.”
—Newsday

“[Smith] has the gift of a McCullers or a Faulkner of catching the sorrow, irony, and humor indigenous to the Southern temperament.”
—Booklist

From the Inside Flap

Speed, Alabama, is frantically preparing for the event of a lifetime: Sesquicentennial Week. And all her proud citizens are kicking up their heels in a lively, pompous fancy strut....

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 343 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (September 29, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345410394
• ISBN-13: 978-0345410399
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,111,457 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars on the march of progress, January 10, 1999

By 

B. Michael Harlow ([e-mail]) (Vermont) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fancy Strut (Ballantine Reader's Circle) (Paperback)

Smith certainly knows how to interweave characters' plots. This is a delightful book. A bit more obvious than her later books, it is also more humorous, with several laugh-out- loud moments. Mostly, it has a wry sense of irony, as people believably rail against the very vice they are illustrating, for instance. The title is ostensibly about an event in competitive baton twirling (a quintessentially Southern event in 1965, the time of the novel). But, the title is also about the self-congratulatory town celebrating its 150th anniversary, and all of the town's population are represented doing their own version of a "fancy strut." I think my favorite is Manly Neighbors (a too-obvious name, but fun), the owner/editor of the weekly paper, a happily complacent guy who knows he doesn't like to think too much. I also like batty, snobbish old Miss Iona Flowers, a belle left over from a finer era, as she alone sees it.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite Lee Smith novel.., July 29, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Fancy Strut (Ballantine Reader's Circle) (Paperback)

This book made me laugh so hard, so often, I had to run to the bathroom on more than one occasion to avoid wetting my pants. The characters are all a delight to get to know, even the ones you love to hate, and it made me wish I lived among fun folks like these. What better compliment could a writer get?

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not my favorite..., September 24, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fancy Strut (Ballantine Reader's Circle) (Paperback)

I had a very hard time getting through this one. I have enjoyed some of Smith's other work, but I had to force myself through this one. The characters were one-dimensional caricatures and the plot seemed contrived and disjointed. This story was certainly not as tightly woven as FAMILY LINEN, which I enjoyed immensely.