Quite a Year for Plums: A Novel (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The spring edition of agrisearch came out with a picture on the front page of Roger standing in the middle of a field holding a..." (more)
Key Phrases: storage lab, wilt virus, sorry dog, Jim Wade, Betty Sheffield, Dean Routhe (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Bailey White's dry, low-key drawl is a familiar (and welcome) sound to millions of National Public Radio regulars. On the radio, her intimate vignettes of small-town life are loosely held together by their subjects, who are themselves tightly held together by love, family, and idiosyncrasy. This episodic mode suits her just as well as a novelist. In this audio version of Quite a Year for Plums--which, aside from the occasional bit of atmospheric banjo music, features none but the author's voice--even the temporary denizens of her fictional southern Georgia town have their oddities. A bird artist is obsessed by a vanishing breed of chickens. Another character dreams obsessively of typography. The permanent townsfolk include a woman who believes in little spacemen, a pair of bookish retired schoolteachers, and plant pathologist and banjo picker Roger Meadows, whose peers would like nothing better than to see him settle down with the right woman. The author has an eye--and, of course, ear--for the telling detail and the decisive, domestic moment, and listeners will no doubt enjoy her adept storytelling skills. (Running time: five and one-half hours, four cassettes) --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

From Library Journal

National Public Radio essayist White's raspy voice is so distinctive that no one else could narrate this, her first novel. Rather than tell us about her relatives and neighbors, as she does in her radio stories, White introduces us to a group of people who could well be her kin. In a series of vignettes, we meet Roger, plant pathologist and peanut virologist, whose well-being is the subject of much concern on the part of retired schoolteachers Hilma and Meade. Roger may be falling in love with newcomer Della, an artist who specializes in painting birds, whom he meets because of the explanatory notes she affixes to items she consigns to the town dump ("This fan works, but it makes a clicking sound and will not oscillate."). People in this community treat one another to strong opinions and with loving respect. Outsiders may consider them eccentric, but in their view they are getting through life as they should. The author's humor is gentle, and the listener will smile often during this recording. Recommended for public libraries.ANann Blaine Hilyard, Lake Villa Dist. Lib.,
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1st Vintage Books Ed edition (April 6, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679764925
• ISBN-13: 978-0679764922
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #268,337 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a charming little book, May 2, 2000

By	Roz Levine (Virginia) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Quite a Year for Plums: A novel (Hardcover)

Bailey White writes a very small, understated story that takes place in a little south Georgia town. The joy of reading this book is spending time with a very unusual cast of characters...a peanut disease specialist, wildlife artist, collector of electric fans, to name just a few. While reading, you get to watch, unobserved, the comings and goings of these quirky people, as they go about the business of their lives. This is a beautifully written book. It's funny and witty, especially the dialogue. How wonderful to spend time with these people. Ms White doesn't disappoint.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, March 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Quite a Year for Plums: A novel (Hardcover)

Reading Quite a Year for Plums is like walking among the residents of a small town, becoming part of their lives and they part of yours, without ever being seen. Bailey White has an uncanny knack for creating characters that come alive. When I finished reading Quite a Year for Plums I was left with the same empty feeling in the pit of my stomach that I had the day I moved from my childhood home in rural Virginia.

Like moving to a new locale, it takes a while to get to know each of the characters. My only criticism of the novel is that during the first few chapters I often found the need to refer to the list of characters. When I purchased the book, I believed that a cast list for a relatively short novel was presumptuous. I later learned that it was a necessity.

I highly recommend Quite a Year for Plums, as well as Mama Makes Up her Mind and Sleeping at the Starlite Motel.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I loved it, it took me right back to North Florida!, September 29, 1999

By A Customer

Bailey White's latest is a masterful recreation of the people and places that make up the North Florida, South Georgia region. Her sense of place is sure and strong and her words took me right back to places I have known and loved. Sure, not much happens in the book, but the people were mostly real for me and I empathized with their frailties and shortcomings in their attempts to care about each other. I found the book relaxing and evocative of another way of life.