Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (Ballantine Reader's Circle) [Paperback]

Fannie Flagg (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ballantine Reader's Circle | Publication Date: January 21, 1997

Folksy and fresh, endearing and affecting, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is the now-classic novel of two women in the 1980s; of gray-headed Mrs. Threadgoode telling her life story to Evelyn, who is in the sad slump of middle age. The tale she tells is also of two women--of the irrepressibly daredevilish tomboy Idgie and her friend Ruth--who back in the thirties ran a little place in Whistle Stop, Alabama, a Southern kind of Cafe Wobegon offering good barbecue and good coffee and all kinds of love and laughter, even an occasional murder. And as the past unfolds, the present--for Evelyn and for us--will never be quite the same again...

"Airplanes and television have removed the Threadgoodes from the Southern scene. Happily for us, Fannie Flagg has preserved a whole community of them in a richly comic, poignant narrative that records the exuberance of their lives, the sadness of their departure. Idgie Threadgoode is a true original: Huckleberry Finn would have tried to marry her!"
--Harper Lee, Author of To Kill a Mockingbird

"A real novel and a good one... [from] the busy brain of a born storyteller."
--The New York Times

"It's very good, in fact, just wonderful."
--Los Angeles Times

"Funny and macabre."
--The Washington Post

"Courageous and wise."
--Houston Chronicle

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cleo Threadgood, 86, shares a lifetime of memories of Whistle Stop, Ala.where the social scene centered on its one cafewith Evelyn Couch, a younger woman who is looking for meaning in her life. PW described this as "lively readingthe kind that eventually nourishes Evelyn and the reader as well."
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"The people in Miss Flagg's book are as real as the people in books can
be. If you put an ear to the pages, you can almost hear the characters
speak. The writer's imaginative skill transforms simple, everyday events
into complex happenings that take on universal meanings."

--Chattanooga Times

"This whole literary enterprise shines with honesty, gallantry, and love
of perfect details that might otherwise be forgotten."

--Los Angeles Times

"A sparkling gem."

--Birmingham News

"Watch out for Fannie Flagg. When I walked into the Whistle Stop Cafe she
fractured my funny bone, drained my tear ducts, and stole my heart."

--Florence King, Author of Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady


"Admirers of the wise child in Flagg's first novel, Coming Attractions,
will find her grown-up successor, Idgie, equally appealing. The book's
best character, perhaps, is the town of Whistle Stop itself--too bad
trains don't stop there anymore."

--Publisher's Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; First Edition edition (January 21, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449911357
• ISBN-13: 978-0449911358
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (223 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

FANNIE FLAGG began writing and producing television specials at age nineteen and went on to distinguish herself as an actress and writer in television, films, and the theater. She is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (which was produced by Universal Pictures as Fried Green Tomatoes), Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!, and Standing in the Rainbow. Flagg's script for Fried Green Tomatoes was nominated for both the Academy and Writers Guild of America Awards and won the highly regarded Scripters Award. Flagg lives in California and in Alabama.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Southern Classic!!!!, November 12, 2000

By 

Nancy R. Katz "NancyK18" (NJ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (Ballantine Reader's Circle) (Paperback)

Although I saw the movie based on this book several times, its only now 15 years after this book was published that I finally decided to read it. And now that I have gulped down the pages, I'm wondering what took me so long to envelop myself with this delightful book filld with Southern charm. And while it's also safe to say than many readers and viewers are now familiar with the stories about Idgie and Ruth and Ninny and Evelyn, rarely does a book today offer such wonderful and endearing characters and a plot which has you racing to the last page.

While describing a friendship between two women some 60 years before and a present day relationship between a nursing home resident and her loyal visitor, the reader is set off on a roller coaster ride of emotions. Dealing with subects as far reaching as women's liberation, homosexual relationships, rights of minority groups,integration and growing old, Fannie Flagg never fails to entice her readers and allow them to view a slice of American life now sadly gone.

It may have taken me all of this time to finally read a book by Fannie Flagg but if her any other titles are as good as this one, I surely will be in reader's heaven. I already have Welcome to the World, Baby Girl and am eagerly waiting to begin it. Maybe today's the day.

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deceptively Simple Story Packs A Southern-Fried Punch, October 29, 2004

By 

Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe (Mass Market Paperback)

Fannie Flagg's heartwarming stories never fail to entertain, and the characters in this one are some of the most endearing ones in all of Southern lit. The deceptively simple story is told in a witty and light-hearted manner, but delves into such emotionally-charged issues as lesbian relationships, the treatment of minorities, the problems of aging and more in an unforgettable narrative.

The story moves effortlessly between two time frames. The first story begins in the 1920's and centers on Idgie Threadgoode, a female Huck Finn, and her friend Ruth Jamison. Together, they own and operate the cafe which is the center of small-town life in Whistle Stop, Alabama.

The second story begins in 1985 when Evelyn Couch meets Ninny Threadgoode, the now-elderly sister-in-law of Idgie, at the Rose Terrace Nursing Home in Birmingham.

The two stories unfold in a light-hearted, folksy way that puts you into the lives of these poignant charaters and has you longing for the neighborly friendliness of a time long past. Evelyn is, in fact, so touched by Ninny's recollections that she is finally able to take control of her own life through the often hilarious and always inspiring life of Idgie.

For a feel-good read where the inherent goodness of people causes them to carry on through good times and bad, I highly recommend this one.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wow...Read This Book, February 24, 2001

By 

Kelly Budd (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe (Mass Market Paperback)

This was an excellent read! In 1985 two women meet and develop a frienship. Through this friendship, Ninny Threadgood takes Evelyn Couch on a journey of past times. Ninny, a woman in her eighties, and Evelyn, a middleaged woman, meet often in a nursing home to share treats and conversation. Ninny spins the tale of her home town and it's inhabitants. She tells stories of love and hurt, happiness and hardships. Evelyn who feels lost and uncertain embraces Ninny and the Whistle Stop adventures. The journey is equally important to both women. It allows Ninny to remember and embrace the past and aids Evelyn in creating her future.

The tale is of an old railway town and it's cast of characters. The reader will be swept away into the lives of those that live in Whistle Stop and surrounding area's. This a very funny and touching novel. We witness and experience many hilarious antics and corageous acts of love. Flagg does an excellent job at creating realistic characters with much depth and dimension.

I am so glad that I discovered Fannie Flagg! I highly recommend this book!