The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love (Paperback)

by Jill Conner Browne (Author) "For anyone even remotely familiar with Jackson, Mississippi, the name "Sweet Potato Queens" instantly evokes sweet memories of beautiful, somewhat augmented female forms enveloped in..." (more)
Key Phrases: doing jackshit, majorette boots, chocolate stuff, Sweet Potato Queens, Big Hair, Bill French (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Unlike other beauty queens, the Jackson, Miss., Sweet Potato Queens are self-crowned, rule for life (there's no "former" tag for these gals) and are real women?figure flaws and all. Originally organized in 1982, the Queens are, by their own account, "fallen Southern belles" and "female drag queens"?and as such, they are all about attitude and humor. This buoyantly funny guide to life and love is a hoot from the get-go as ringleader Browne offers queenly observations on life's most pressing issues. Some topics may seem trivial, such as tanning, making the most of big hair and delighting in "big, sturdy, serviceable, substantial Russian immigrant underwear" for pregnant women (it's so "indescribably comfy" that "you may never go back"), but they are expertly mined for laughs. Non-cooks may reconsider when reading the hilariously artery-clogging recipes in the chapter "What to Eat When Tragedy Strikes," highlighting the four main food groups (sweet, salty, fried and au gratin) and suitable for both therapeutic and recreational eating. The life-affirming final chapter reminds readers of life's many options: "Life may indeed be short, but it is, for a fact, wide." If you can't get enough of the Queens, you can visit their Web site (coming in January): www.sweetpotatoqueens.com.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Let me say right up front that I had never heard of the Sweet Potato Queens until their book landed on my front porch. If you too are unenlightened, let me inform you that they are a group of women in green sequined dresses, red wigs, and "enhanced" figures that participate in parades and other events in the South, led by founding Queen (and humor writer) Browne. Their tongue-in-cheek advice includes chapters on maintaining the queenly look, magic words to get any man to do your bidding, and what to eat when tragedy strikes. The book includes recipes ("chocolate stuff" for when you're feeling down) and addresses (where to order fake teeth). But chapters like "The Five Men You Must Have in Your Life at All Times" and "Men Who May Need Killing, Quite Frankly" just weren't all that funny. Some of the stories were touching, and there's more than a little truth to all of them, but most of this book is a bit heavy-handed. Strictly a regional title; not recommended for most libraries.?Kathy Ingels Helmond, Indianapolis-Marion Cty. P.L.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (January 19, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609804138
• ISBN-13: 978-0609804131
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (301 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #61,550 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

128 of 130 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious advice on Living, from a woman who really does., October 25, 1999

By A Customer

"The Sweet Potato Queen's Book of Love" will have you calling friends and reading them quotations, which is usually annoying, but in this case will probably make them want to buy their own copy, and I heartily suggest that they do. The Book is at once hilariously funny and utterly sensible. My copy has taken up residence on the shelf along with a few treasured others, to be read and re-read innumerable times in the future.

The Sweet Potato Queens take a bit of explaining. A tradition in the Jackson, Mississippi Saint Patrick's Day parade since 1982, they were founded by the Original and Supreme Queen, author Jill Conner Browne. They are all women of a certain age; past the first bloom of youth, one might say, but proof that you can blossom into something better after. The Queens appear in the parade, waving graciously from their float and tossing trinkets to the adoring crowds. They are easy to spot, traditionally garbed in green sequined mini-dresses (with hugely amplified bosoms and busts), flowing red wigs, Revlon Love That Pink lipstick, and majorette boots. It is often said of the Queens that "[they] turn into someone else when they put those outfits on." Queen Jill responds that they in fact are completely themselves only when they put those outfits on, and this is what the book is hilariously, wisely about; living the life you like, giving yourself what you desire, and having a really good time.

Queen Jill graces the lucky reader with advice on how to live a Queenly life. I could begin quoting the parts that made me laugh, but that would mean copying out the whole book, so I'll simply tell you that The Book is consistently, screamingly funny without ever being mean. You will laugh through advice on child-rearing, getting a man, getting rid of a man, getting over a man, what to do when there's a possum under your bed, and why you never wear panties to a party. And then there's the chapter on "What to Eat When Tragedy Strikes." This is a collection of recipes for people who absolutely do not care, and which are therefor irresistible. Chocolate Stuff. Armadillo Dip. Fat Mama's Knock You Naked Margaritas. A coconut caramel pie simply called "Oh, God!" And Danger Pudding (Boil an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk for an hour. Bear the name in mind before deciding this is a good idea.).

I enjoyed myself so much reading about the Queens, it never dawned on me that I was reading advice until the very end, when Queen Jill tells us that if life seems lifeless, "[you] don't have to move or change jobs or leave your husband or unnaturally alter your state of consciousness. We're not after an altered state; we're after our True State - unbridled joy." Any number of New Agey books have been written on this theme, but none, I think, have succeeded in making it seem as possible as The Book. Browne closes with a quotation from George Eliot: "It is never too late to be what you might have been." Read "The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love" and laugh yourself sensible.

68 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes More is More, September 17, 2000

By	Sherrie Martin "sherchez" (Roanoke, VA United States) - See all my reviews

Gently reared females are taught that less is more. But females also know that rules were made to be broken, and sometimes you've just got to let your hair down, tease it up, buy yourself a tiara, and strut your stuff in sequins because ... more is so much better!

The Sweet Potato Queens break all the rules with an earthy joie de vivre that is hysterical to read. Since nobody is going to do it for you, appoint yourself the queen of whatever, stock up on comfort food, and read this book. From majorette boots and white girls and suntans to men who may need killing and zippity-doo-dah, I hooted like a loon. I was raised to be prepared, but I never thought of pocket hams. I loved the possum story and the recipes for Chocolate Stuff and Fat Mama's Knock You Naked Margaritas, but my favorite was the one about the mixing bowl. You may not want your mama, if she's prissy, to be reading about making The Promise in spikes and trashy lingerie, but women of a certain age will bust a gut laughing. This is by far the funniest book I've read this year and, believe me, I'll read it again next time I get the blues.

47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Give this book to your funniest friend, May 9, 2000

By A Customer

The title made me smile. The cover photo made me grin. But that's nothing compared my response to the real life advice for "ladies of a certain age" that fills the book. I laughed out loud -- and often. But the best thing about the Sweet Potato Queen's book is the fun you get from giving it to a friend. I shared my copy with a special person who I love to laugh with. Since then we have had an ongoing, hilarious dialogue fantasizing new ways to use what we've learned (especially about promising guys what they really want). We think the advice from the Sweet Potato Queens can help us save the world, or at least our small corner of it. It's not often that a book which takes just a couple of hours to read also helps a friendship grow and might well help readers rescue a community from the hands of seemingly ruthless developers. I highly recommend that you buy this book now -- but at the same time you must choose which friend you want to share some ongoing and very funny times with too.