Customer Reviews

Mama Makes Up Her Mind: And Other Dangers of Southern Living

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Bailey White captures the magic of the eccentric south in this charming collection, where each little chapter is a story in an of itself - but all related. Sassy and playful, like Fanny Flagg's delightful books, but more of an intellectual's look at life, the book passes by the Dukes of Hazzard type mentality, and stands like a beacon on its own. Cooking, livestock and an amazing house are simply the tip of the wonderful things to come - definitely a book to be read not once, but many times. From a road kill menu to a swarm of bicyclists to a bed that morphs into a mirror and "something like a husband" the palette is full and rich with fun and love and the wonderful art of being southern. This would make a wonderful "read out loud" book that would leave the audience in giggles and begging for more!

This is the first book by Bailey White I have ever read and I intend to find all her other writings, because this is one of the finest books I have read in many years. I am European and I find this writing to provide wonderful insight into Southern states atmosphere. The book is entertaining, delightful, exquisitely humorous. In addition, there is a complete lack of the tiresome agendas so prevalent in current books. I have read the book twice now, and intend to read it again when I need a reminder that life's many facets are all worth relishing and (re)discovering. I have read sections to others who enjoyed it just as much as I have. Let this book entertain and even teach you a thing or two.

Southern living is really dangerous. Random thoughts could get you in a ton of trouble. Mama Makes Up Her Mind by Bailey White is a hilarious memoir about her wacky family. One of the best qualities about the book is the way Bailey White paints the pictures of Mama. You can just see her sitting in her reclining chair, listening to the radio, and reading UFO newsletter or picking up some road kill for dinner. Another great quality is that the characters are easy to relate to. By the end of the book you want to talk to Mama or you wish that Bailey was your 2nd grade teacher. The characters are fun and exciting. The last quality that was really wonderful was that throughout the book you learned many lessons about life. From how great instant-care is to how to deal with 36 first graders on a field trip. Bailey White's life is as entertaining and Mama and the way She describes it is amazing. Mama Makes Up Her Mind was and entertaining group of stories that will make you laugh out loud. Buckle-up, because your about to read a thoroughly eccentric book.

I have thoroughly enjoyed all of Bailey White's books and this is my favorite. She is refreshingly honest and hilarious at the same time. I laughed out loud constantly while reading. I live in Bailey White's home town and I can tell you that most of her stories are based on true stories and actual people but greatly improved! A great commentary on life in the South.

I guess I was assuming a novel about the gracious South; but no, its about the totally eccentric and whacky South and I enjoyed every minute of it. This book of quick and touching anecdotes is not your typical novel but a nice refreshing read between heavier material. I will be looking forward to experiencing more of Ms White's work.

From the beginning of "Mama makes up her mind", you know that mama is not your average person. Bailey White tells about her up bringing in the deep south. Her mother, who is referred to as mama through out the entire book, is a humorous yet crucial part of the stories along with many neighbors and family members. Some of the best qualities about this book, are the humor that Bailey White includes in all of the stories whether they be light hearted stories, like "Dead on the road", or a more serious theme like "Porsche". In "Dead on the Road" when a prissy relative comes to eat one evening, she compliments mama on the quail and asks her how she manages not to have a single piece of shot in the whole bird. Mama recites where she picked the animal up and the car that hit it, "Intersection of 93 and Baggs Road, green late model pickup, Florida tag." Another good quality is that Bailey's writing is very easy but gets the point across. It is enjoyable and paints a mental picture for every scene. In the story "Summer Afternoon" she talks of a lake that her aunt used to take her to. She was also very descriptive about the sounds around her. She talked about the alligator that swam to shore and bellowed at her aunt's command. After the alligator passes on she says that at night sometimes she can almost hear the bellow. I think that every one of Bailey's stories teaches me something. Each memory has a special meaning to it. In one of the stories about a garden she grew, she talks about how much she wanted a huge field of flowers to be able to walk through. For years she slaves day after day over the garden, but when she finally has it the way she dreamed of it being, she no longer wants to relax and just walk through it, she wants to keep gardening and keep changing the variety. She explains how much she grows to love the garden and how one dream fades but another is born. These are the kind of morals and lessons Ms. White's stories have. These were just some of the stories and wonderful qualities of Bailey's writing. There are so many more memories of relations and friends that share the qualities of the ones above and many have their own unique twist. Over all, this book was a fun filled and enjoyable experience.

This is an amusing collection of short stories concerning a family in the deep South.The Mama of the family is an out and out eccentric but totally charming with it.Her house is a repository for generations of junk (and none too clean),but life with her is never dull.I found this to be a very likeable "little" read when you don't feel like delving into anything too heavy or involved.

Bailey White's matter-of-fact prose sneaks up and surprises you with the outrageousness of her characters and situations.

I loved "The One-eared Intellectual" so much that I called a friend of mine, a Master Teacher, to read it to her long distance. We had a great laugh together over the phone. SHE loved it so much that she plans to buy the book and share it in the seminars she conducts for teachers.

I'm ordering five more copies to give to members of my family. They'll be crazy about it, too!

Reading Bailey White is as refreshing as sitting in the porch swing on a hot summer day with a sweating glass of cool iced tea with a sprig of lemon mint enjoying the occasional breeze. No one can capture the essence of the South like Ms. White. Her stories are funny, thoughtful and bittersweet. I've laughed and cried reading these stories of Bailey and her irrepressible Mama. One of my favorite stories is when Mama makes up her mind that she wants some smoked mullet and they have to go down to Rosey's, "a tough juke joint on the edge of the marsh in an old-fashioned part of Florida where tourists don't even go because they have more sense." Each story will grab your heart and give it a little squeeze. This is an excellent book that I read over and over!

I thought this book was hilarious! I have plenty of relatives from the South, though none quite so eccentric as Bailey's Mama. Somehow every observation, every turn of phrase rang true in each story. I think my favorite, though, has to be the one in which some ornithologists incubate a bunch of wild turkey eggs on the author as a fever-stricken six-year-old. I highly recommend this book; most of the stories are only 3 pages long but they pack a real punch.