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247th out of 2,293 books
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Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man
by
Fannie Flagg
In Fannie Flagg’s high-spirited first novel, we meet Daisy Fay Harper in the spring of 1952, where she’s “not doing much except sitting around waiting for the sixth grade.” When she leaves Shell Beach, Mississippi, in September 1959, she is packed up and ready for the Miss America Pageant, vowing “I won’t come back until I’m somebody.” But in our hearts she already is.
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Paperback, 336 pages
Published
May 25th 2011
by Ballantine Books
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Fannie Flagg is a brilliantly funny, authentic writer. If you ever read "Fried Green Tomatoes At the Whistle Stop Cafe" or saw the movie, you will surely like this one too.
It is a highly entertaining account of the formative years of a very down to eart girl growing up in Coastal Mississippi in the 50's. Great characterization! The writing style is unique and is as though Daisy were simply have a conversation with you. Most enjoyable. Give it a try!
It is a highly entertaining account of the formative years of a very down to eart girl growing up in Coastal Mississippi in the 50's. Great characterization! The writing style is unique and is as though Daisy were simply have a conversation with you. Most enjoyable. Give it a try!
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Haaaaaated it! I don't understand the inspiration behind this book (or, shall I say, the lack thereof?) For starters, what would possess a person to write a book about "white trash" in the first place? Secondly, why do her critics call it "side-splittingly funny" and "sheer, unbeatable entertainment"? I didn't miss the attempted humor...I just found this book to be morally degrading and not all that funny. Some parts caused me to wonder why on earth someone wou...more
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It does have its funny moments, but I didn't find it "side-splittingly funny" as the Cleveland Plain Dealer did. There is an awful lot of alcohol drinking going on in this book. It seems almost anachronistic to me, what with the attention to natural, organic, good health and coffee that I experience every day in Seattle. Isn't it amazing how long ago the 1950's actually were? I get the feeling that every year I slip a little further behind in keeping up with the age I live in now. ...more
Fanni Flagg ormai mi ha fregata: se trovo un titolo che mi assicura che l'autrice è lei, io lo prendo a a scatola chiusa, anche se non è che sia uscita pazza per i suoi libri che ho già letto. Però è una speci di droga: li devo leggere tutti... forse c'è qualcosa nelle ricette dei suoi titoli, nella torta al caramello, nei pomodori verdi fritti, nella zuppa cambpell e ora negli hamburger che provoca assuefazione!
Questo in ogni caso è tra tutti quello che mi è piaciuto meno. Il suo ritmo di diari...more
Questo in ogni caso è tra tutti quello che mi è piaciuto meno. Il suo ritmo di diari...more
I was loaned this book by someone who wouldn't brook me not reading it. She would ask me over and over every time I saw her, so as soon as I got it, I started right away. UGH! It was a very hard start. I read the first 50 pages or so and then put it down for a couple of months. The knowledge that I would be seeing the book's owner soon got me back on board. The first part of the story, all of which is written in diary form, is a slog to get through. The middle/late middle to the end of the book ...more
Daisy Fay Harper is now one of my favorite characters! She is spunky and independent and surrounded by a great cast of characters. This book spans Daisy Fay’s life from 1952-1959 at the beginning of the book she is 11 years old. Daisy Fay’s daddy is a drunk but she stands by him through thick and thin, he isn’t a mean drunk so that’s ok LOL.
It is so fun to read about her discovering life especially since this book is set in the 50’s.One of my favorite scenes is when they are living i...more
It is so fun to read about her discovering life especially since this book is set in the 50’s.One of my favorite scenes is when they are living i...more
Fannie Flagg is such a storyteller! Her books are so different, and I think it's her talent for storytelling as opposed to writing a novel, if that makes any sense. This book is filled, as all her books are, with characters and each one has a distinct story that's shared. I mean, a character can sit next to someone on a bus and Fannie will tell you the story behind that random person on the bus, and then you'll never hear about them again. This is a coming of age story about an eleven-year-o...more
This is one of my favorite books. It is so fun to read and fun to review. It is fun to see the adult world in this way through the eyes of an optimistic child. The story takes place during the 1950s in the South. The antics of Daisy Fay are heart-warming, crazy and at times side-splitting hilarious. I would recommend this book for everyone to enjoy.
So I am actually not sure about this book. I think I'd give it 3 1/2 stars. I'm tempted to do 4 because I read nonstop on the book for several hours. When a book hooks me in it usually gets a high star value. But I have mixed emotions about the protagonist. I liked her A LOT, but at the same time.... she was lacking some moral compass points. However, that was due almost entirely to her father. The story sucked me in and I was extremely interested in Daisy's life. I am not sure how to des...more
What a quirky tale! I must say, I wasn’t quite sure of what to make of Daisy May and the Miracle Man. In fact, I wasn’t even sure that I liked it until I found I couldn’t put it down. I love Fannie Flagg’s way of writing; she comes from left field in way, totally unpredictable and refreshingly different to most writers. She has a definite talent for capturing the eccentricities in her characters and must be a very astute observer of human nature. On the surface, Daisy May and the Miracle Man tel...more
I did not at all expect to like this book, and I ended up loving it. I did not think I would like it because 1 - Fannie Flagg wrote it, and if I recall, her books tend to be incredibly dumb and poorly written attempts at being Flannery O'Connor that fail miserably 2 - there is a naked baby on the cover and 3 - it is self titled 'a wonderful book.'
Well I'm glad I went with it - this read like Huck Finn gone female - dumb alcoholic dad always looking for idiot schemes to get money, stupid s...more
Well I'm glad I went with it - this read like Huck Finn gone female - dumb alcoholic dad always looking for idiot schemes to get money, stupid s...more
A young girl's diary and the story of her life. Odd and unconventional, with some really laugh out loud funny moments. This author writes of small town (usually southern) America in a little earlier time. Her characters are very funny and original. It's mostly a telling of life as it flows in the lives of the characters, there are little mysteries and dramas and love stories mixed in the ongoing flow and interaction of the people and their daily happenings. They tend to be clean and swear w...more
This was about 4.5 stars for the first half in my eyes, then it started to get boring. I laughed so hard when Daisy said her dad thought that, like small animals, all small children could swim if they got scared enough. I enjoyed seeing the 1950's south through her childlike perspective. The older she got, though, the less I felt that there was a direction or purpose (I apparently struggle with postmodernism, because I always hate when books don't feel like they are going somewhere specific). Th...more
This book was definitely not as good as the previous books I’ve read by Flagg. This is not to say it wasn’t good. Daisy is an irreverent version of Scout, seeing everything through skewed childhood eyes. She loves her Daddy and Momma without reserve, although they throw her life into turmoil every other day. Flagg is able to keep the humor in the story while introducing serious issues like abuse, alcohol addiction, adultery, murder, insanity, death. As usual her characters drive the story, with ...more
I believe this is one of Fannie Flagg's first books (if not THE first). She is a master storyteller! I also believe this is a memoir of sorts. Perhaps not an actual biography, but certainly fashioned after her own life. She had me laughing out loud, feeling sorry for her, cheering her on, and of course teary-eyed in places.
She grew up in southern Mississippi, was very poor. Her parents split up when she was 11 yrs. old. She stayed with her daddy because although her momma wante...more
She grew up in southern Mississippi, was very poor. Her parents split up when she was 11 yrs. old. She stayed with her daddy because although her momma wante...more
A coming of age story set in the South. Very funny.
The novel is divided into two sections. In the first, Daisy Fay lives with her Momma and Daddy in the largely deserted coastal town of Shell Beach, running a failing malt shop with with mysterious contents hidden in the freezer. In the second, seven years after the book begins, Daisy leaves Shell Beach to compete in the Miss America Pageant.
The book is written in diary form and the distinctive and engaging voice of the narrator is apparent from the very first words of Daisy Fay an...more
The book is written in diary form and the distinctive and engaging voice of the narrator is apparent from the very first words of Daisy Fay an...more
I already knew, going in, that I liked Fannie Flagg's writing "voice", but this was so much more entertaining than even her usual writing. The story is told in the journal entries of Daisy Fay beginning a day or so after her 11th birthday and following her through her 17th year. For lack of a better term, Daisy Fay is just a hoot!
Daisy's parents are very passionate. Not just in their loving, but in their fighting as well. They move to a beach, purchasing a share in a malt ...more
Daisy's parents are very passionate. Not just in their loving, but in their fighting as well. They move to a beach, purchasing a share in a malt ...more
I loved the voice of this story....it could not have been more authentic. The author did an amazing job of making the perspective that of the 11yr old and then 17yr old and carried the same characteristics but showed maturity. I was really impressed and the storied told could not have been any funnier!!! There was also a maturity in how Daisy Fay handeled all the challenges she had to face! I just loved it!!!
My favorite parts were Pickles and Mustard going to Prom, and the ice cream ...more
My favorite parts were Pickles and Mustard going to Prom, and the ice cream ...more
This book was cute and fast, but I was unable to get more than a chuckle out of it. It's a book for the masses; is this book anything like her more famous Fried Green Tomatoes? If so, that book may be one of the few cases where a movie is better than the original! (Flagg did get involved in the adaptation of Fried for the screen, so there may be where her true talent lies...) I will give Daisy some kudos for her devil-may-care attidute re: sexual mores and her independence, but past that, it f...more
Sad and depressing disguised as funny, until the very end and then it gets just a little better. It's really just people struggling to survive and screwing up their lives for the most part. Or maybe having other people screw up thier lives. And finally Daisy kind of breaks away from that, and does her own thing. There is also a lot of bad language, which I don't like. I like characters who are strong and moral and live and thrive. Therefore, I do not like this book.
Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man is a novel of letters/journal entries Daisy (a girl about ten years old, originally) writes to her grandmother to tell her about what is going on in her life. You'd think with a title like it has that the story would revolve around the miracle man and the "miracle" that happens, but it turns out to be a very minor part in the book. Mostly you read of Daisy's adventures as a 10-18year-old child growing up in rural Mississippi.
I think that I'd rea...more
I think that I'd rea...more
Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man is a coming-of-age story set in Mississippi in the 1950s. The story is told in diary entries (which I love) and follows Daisy from age 11 until after she finishes high school. Daisy is a spunky character who has to put up with a completely dysfunctional family, including an alcoholic father. There are all kinds of interesting characters involved including a crippled girl, a man with elphantiasis, an albino woman, Daisy's best friend Pickle, and Daisy's arch-nemes...more
I read this book when I was really, really young. My mom had picked it up and liked it so much I grabbed it from her and began reading it before she could say no. I'm not sure she actually knew i was reading it until it was almost done. I loved it though, loved it to pieces. I remember reading the part about the younger girls washing themselves with shaken up soda pop to prevent pregnancy and hoping I'd never have to do that myself.
Fannie Flagg is one of my favorite authors, and this is by far one of my favorite books - by any author. AKA "Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man," it is the diary of Daisy Fay, a young girl in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1950's who grows from age 11 to 18. It is hard to explain why I find this to be a "feel good" novel when Daisy's mother is seemingly always unhappy, her father is an alcoholic who is always chasing after some money-pit pipe dream, and a good chunk of the story i...more
Such a sweet book. Written as a diary by the young Daisy Fay starting from the age of 11 to 18 depicting the adversity she goes through as a young girl. From an alcoholic father to a mother with cancer and a highly unusual living situation, Daisy makes the best of life by embracing those around her. Highly recommended for any middle school girl. I would have loved to have read this when I was younger.
At first I didn't think I would like the book. I thought the 11yo narrator would get tiresome and dull. But, it turned out so amazing! Loved the nutsy plot twists and seeing the world from a spunky little girl's view. Plus, the book spans until she is a high school senior, and a little bit after, so you get a sense of her maturing. I'm not a Southerner but I loved learning a bit about Mississippi.
I have read all of Fannie Flagg's books, and this one is nowhere near the sweetness of "Can't Wait to Get to Heaven" or "Standing in the Rainbow". One thing I've always liked about her books is that she writes with such an ease of an era gone by, small-town America like no one else can write. Her characters are witty, original, and say things that (at least I) can hear my own relatives saying. I love that. I also like how a lot of her books are tied together with the same ch...more
Flagg manages to be funny and dark simultaneously, with all the social disfunction a Southern novel requires. Her "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" simply outshines this novel. "Daisy Fay" suffers from the very breezy, meandering tales told by the title heroine, a child growing up in '50s Mississippi. Nothing ever quite sticks. It's like listening to the headlong stories of a kid bopping in and out of the room on a summer day filled with shouts and impromptu gam...more
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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,...more
More about Fannie Flagg...
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,...more
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“I just know there's an albino living in the colored quarters. I can feel it in my bones.”
—
6 people liked it
“Grandma Harper has two green bottles shaped like women with black hair painted on their heads and a yellow glass colored captain's hat that she keeps her face powder in that I want too, and a picture of a naked girl in a swing, swinging way up in the air over castles in a blue sky.
I don't know why I want those things, I just do.”
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4 people liked it
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I don't know why I want those things, I just do.”
