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Walking Across Egypt
"An unpretentious, finely-crafted novel that will linger with the readers like the last strains of a favorite hymn. It is more enjoyable than a pitcher full of sweet tea and one of Mattie's home-cooked dinners."
THE ATLANTA JOURNAL & CONSTITUTION
She had as much business keeping a stray dog as she had walking across Egypt--which not so incidentally is the title of her fa...more
THE ATLANTA JOURNAL & CONSTITUTION
She had as much business keeping a stray dog as she had walking across Egypt--which not so incidentally is the title of her fa...more
Paperback, 240 pages
Published
February 12th 1988
by Ballantine Books
(first published January 3rd 1987)
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Walking Across Egypt restores your faith in mankind. A sixteen-year old boy lives at a juvenile detention home and through his uncle, the local dogcatcher, he meets a senior citizen he comes to call Grandma. He escapes the detention home and comes to live with Grandma and they develop a grandma and grandson relationship. Her son and daughter objects to the friendship but grandma ignores them and she and the boy builds upon their friendship from her teaching him about things most children take fo...more
I really liked this book, but I didn't love it. The main character is Mattie, a woman who thinks she's "slowing down", and despite her prejudices and some totally irrational habits, she sincerely believes that she can affect her community for the better, one meal at a time. She's very human, and her naivite as well as her hypocrisy is enlightening.
Reading this reminded me of a lot of people I know, a lot of faults which I have, and the humor and good grace that gets me through it all.
Reading this reminded me of a lot of people I know, a lot of faults which I have, and the humor and good grace that gets me through it all.
Dec 30, 2012
Bookreaderljh
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-read-in-2012
Nice light and easy story to read. Very funny in parts and a lovely character study of an older woman trying to solve the world's problems through her religious faith and the power of good meals. The community and family dynamics were very relatable. Here is a woman who is getting on in age but still trying to do for herself and be useful to others. She becomes involved with a young man - in trouble and with no family - as she grapples with the fact that her family may be dying out as she has no...more
A very short read about a 78 year old widow who tries to change the world one meal at a time. Mattie thinks she is slowing down, actually she made me feel like a lazy lump with all her cleaning and cooking. She has a bit of a fall and gets stuck in a chair with no bottom. She is mortified that the neighbors might find her and she hadn't done the lunch dishes yet. The dog-catcher comes to pick up a stray and she won't let him rescue her until he washes, dries and puts up her dishes. Mattie learns...more
This book, which is not set in Egypt, and where nobody walks much further than the local church, was an oddity. Two parts farce to three parts religious indoctrination, it centres on an elderly widow living in the North Carolina.
The depiction of the elderly characters is thought provoking. Their focus is on washing up, cooking, nurturing, offering hospitality and going to church. They aren’t distracted by the complications and concerns of the modern world, they just keep plodding forward the bes...more
The depiction of the elderly characters is thought provoking. Their focus is on washing up, cooking, nurturing, offering hospitality and going to church. They aren’t distracted by the complications and concerns of the modern world, they just keep plodding forward the bes...more
I read this book over my Christmas vacation and my dad recommended it to me as a funny, entertaining read. And it was that! I laughed out loud several times. It is about a 78 year old woman who thinks she is slowing down and is trying to take it easy but gets her self into a big town scandal. It was quite comical and there are some very interesting characters in the book including her sister, Pearl, who uses snuff. But the most interesting is the main character, a 78 year old woman, Mattie, who...more
This is a story of an older woman, getting on in years but still able to live independantly. One day she has an unfortunate incident with one of her favorite chairs which leaves her stuck in a rather awkward position. While waiting for a repair man to come to her rescue, she recalls a sermon given recently at her church. It was concerning "the least of these" type of people. This is a heart warming tale about standing up for what you belive and caring for others. I really enjoyed it.
Clyde Edgerton's "Walking Across Egypt" will leave you feeling hungry -- for the freshly picked butter beans, homegrown tomatoes, lightly browned biscuits, Southern fried chicken, hot apple pie, thick, moist pound cake and any other comfort food that Mattie Rigsbee can concoct in her tidy kitchen and serve to just about anyone she can get to set a spell.
But when you turn the last page, you'll also be left feeling hungry for more of Edgerton's homespun story about a woman who allows her faith to...more
But when you turn the last page, you'll also be left feeling hungry for more of Edgerton's homespun story about a woman who allows her faith to...more
I'm sorry, I just couldn't. This book is royally boring. I read it as part of a challenge for a group and ended up skimming the majority. Why? The majority of the book is about an old lady's stream of consciousness. It's not interesting. At all. It's about things she finds funny (that aren't funny) about the food she cooks (not even interesting, oh, pound cake, yippee) and about being old and slowing down. Yawn. And she thinks the same things over and over again. Okay, so the story itself isn't...more
Aug 31, 2011
Miss Starling
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
southern-literature,
favorites
Sweet Jesus, I'm gonna get all southern over this book! Its true. This book does it to me. The realtionship between an older woman taking in a juvenile deliquent is so funny, and heartwarming. She's really torn between her Christian duty and her enjoyment of solitude. I like how Edgerton reveals her feelings about her children and not having grandchildren. i really didn't like her kids and their prejudices against her charge. I detest rude people. It's refreshing to have a novel feature Chritian...more
Nov 25, 2009
Michelle
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Those needing a little lift
Recommended to Michelle by:
KerriSue Jensen
Shelves:
favorites
I liked the main character, Mattie. She's what I want to be in my old age. Except grandchild-less...that I do NOT want to be. I love her spunky attitude and her inner conflict. I enjoyed that she was a flawed product of her generation. I was most uncomfortable with the use of the "n" word, and I suppose that's because I'm a product of my generation's values. I have to admit that I got a little tiny bit panicked, seeing the (small) number of pages left and not knowing if the author was going to g...more
1 like · like · see review
When I picked this book up I didn't know it was going to be funny. Oh my, I chuckled, giggled and laughed until I cried in parts of this book. It is about an older (78) southern woman who lives alone; her children are grown and she has no grandchildren. Some of the things she does just remind me so much of my mother and other women I have known in my life. Such as, she has to have her dishes done right after she eats, watches All My Children, mows her own grass and makes humongous meals out of n...more
A fun vacation read, similar to the clever style of Alexander McCall Smith. The main character is a 70 something women, and the story is related as seen through her eyes. With a mix of the naiivity of a Sunday school little girl, and wisdom that comes with having lived over 70 years.
I heard Clyde Edgeron speak at a writer's conference in 1999...he read the opening scene of Walking Across Egypt, told some stories, shared writing tips...one of the funniest guys I've ever heard. Perfect delivery, imagery, dialogue. Lets you see, smell, taste the biscuits, hear the conversations as if you're standing near enough to the stove to burn yourself if you're not careful. LOVE his writing style, the lazy meanderings of southern conversations, back and forth and around each other. Walki...more
I read this book many years ago and remembered it fondly. Recently my Christian Education professor in seminary read to us from this book at the start of every class, and it was a wonderful and relaxing ritual.
It is interesting to think deeply about the title of the book and what "Walking Across Egypt" means in relation to the characters. Consider the liberation story of the bibical Exodus and how Mattie is liberated from her old world of stockings, "stories," and soapsuds.
If you are from the...more
It is interesting to think deeply about the title of the book and what "Walking Across Egypt" means in relation to the characters. Consider the liberation story of the bibical Exodus and how Mattie is liberated from her old world of stockings, "stories," and soapsuds.
If you are from the...more
On my own, I probably would have never picked this book up, but luckily i was required to read it for school. I found that i really enjoyed it. The main character is a very independent, strong-minded senior citizen. The novel was very humorous at times, for example, the main character fell through a rocking chair and sat there for several hours before the dogcatcher found her. But she demanded that before he get her out of the chair, that he wash and put away her lunch dishes, so her next-door n...more
Clyde Edgerton can be quite good at capturing personalities of a small North Carolina Town. Mattie and those who touch her life, are all so well drawn and so regular and ordinary, that it is refreshing to read. You won't find a single wasp-waisted, sharpe tongued publisher's assistant, or any clever and resourceful intellectuals who can craft a solution to a problem using only the items in their pockets. No computer wizards cracking code or finding the answer to life's eternal questions.
Just 78...more
Just 78...more
Dec 16, 2009
Jessica
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Jessica by:
Suey
Shelves:
book-club
This was a last-minute replacement for another book club selection that became unavailable. It was good pick for December because it's a quick and easy read.
From the back of my Ballantine Reader's Circle edition:
From the back of my Ballantine Reader's Circle edition:
She has as much business keeping a stray dog as she would walking across Egypt - which not so incidentally is the title of her favorite hymn. She's Mattie Rigsbee, an independent, strong-minded senior citizen who, at seventy-eight, might be slowing down just a bit. When teenage delinque...more
I've read about this book for years. It's on so many recommended reading lists, especially for book groups, but for some reason, I'd never picked it up.
I added it to the schedule of one of my library book discussion groups this year as one of the members ONLY wants to read things that are light and funny, nothing too depressing. It makes it challenging to come up with titles that are suitable for discussion.
I listened to this on audio and loved it. I found myself LOL from the first chapter of Ma...more
I added it to the schedule of one of my library book discussion groups this year as one of the members ONLY wants to read things that are light and funny, nothing too depressing. It makes it challenging to come up with titles that are suitable for discussion.
I listened to this on audio and loved it. I found myself LOL from the first chapter of Ma...more
This book reminds me of a great aunt I had who lived in the southern VA mountains. She fed every cat that came to her door & named them all "Meanie" - ALL of them. She said that way she could open her back door and call for "Meanie" and a dozen cats would show up all at once. She also had an overturned bus in her yard! I have no idea why it was there, but I remember wanting to play in the bus (which was forbidden, of course). My aunt stitched quilts by hand well into the 1980's just because...more
This book contains my favorite description ever. I won't give it away, but the scene has to do with dirty dishes, a soap opera, and chair seats being recovered.
Funny, but somewhat stereotypical story of a 78 year old woman and the people who cross her path-her sister who takes her shopping for caskets, her children who disappoint her by not providing her with grandchildren (thereby breaking the line of ancestors which started with Adam) the dog-catcher who rescues her from her seatless rocking chair and most centrally, the dog-catcher's nephew, one of the "least of these" a16 year-old boy residing in a juvenile detainment center. Although she claims to...more
I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend this novel, a homely tale about home people in North Carolina, a location that could just as well be PA or SD. The humour is gentle and consistent and true as the reader visits the life of 78-year-old Mattie, who feels she is getting too old to undertake much yet mows her own lawn, picks butter beans despite a broken hip, and prepares feasts of food for all who come even casually to her door. When Mattie becomes involved in the life of teenage delinquent Wesley...more
I enjoyed this book well enough, though it certainly wasn't a page turner. In fact, it floundered around without any tension or plot for a long time. I really liked Mattie, who was darling, if foreign to me. She reminded me of my mother in her efforts at always having the next meal running through her head. I liked Lamar, but I didn't like any other character, though the author did a good job of painting "real" people. I knew them all, and still didn't like them. I was proud of Mattie's decision...more
Reminiscent of Flannery O’Connor, and strangely familiar if you’ve read “Everything That Rises Must Converge.” A tale of aging and coming of age. Mattie is a 78-year-old woman who lives alone, but tells everyone she is slowing down, though she shows no signs of it. A series of encounters leads her into a relationship with an 18-year-old juvenile delinquent, Wesley. She needs to be needed and Wesley needs a grandmother. It is only when Mattie lets go of everyone’s expectations of her that her fut...more
I actually listened to this book as I was running errands and taxiing children around. It probably was detrimental to my enjoyment of the story. I liked Maddie. She reminded me of my Grandmother. My favorite part is when she falls through the chair. She is mortified, not that she can't get out but because she didn't so the dishes before hand. Heaven forbid someone helps her and sees she didn't do her dishes before she set down to watch her soap opera. Hilarious! I love that she takes care of Wes...more
I loooove Clyde Edgerton!
He is the best author to ever go see do a reading. His readings are actually performances with music and singing, and his character portrayals will have you laughing for days. He's been described as a modern-day Mark Twain, and I think that description fits in so many ways.
This book showcases southern hospitality and tradition and family. The characters are so well-developed that I swear I'd know it was them if I ran into one in the grocery store.
Fun, light, and will mak...more
He is the best author to ever go see do a reading. His readings are actually performances with music and singing, and his character portrayals will have you laughing for days. He's been described as a modern-day Mark Twain, and I think that description fits in so many ways.
This book showcases southern hospitality and tradition and family. The characters are so well-developed that I swear I'd know it was them if I ran into one in the grocery store.
Fun, light, and will mak...more
Dec 31, 2010
Megan
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Megan by:
St Louis Bookgroup
Shelves:
20th-century-fiction
kept thinking of Grandma F & Cella and thought this probably wasn't so far off...
She has as much business keeping a stray dog as she would walking across Egypt–which not so incidentally is the title of her favorite hymn. She’s Mattie Rigsbee, an independent, strong-minded senior citizen who, at seventy-eight, might be slowing down just a bit. When teenage delinquent Wesley Benfield drops in on her life, he is even less likely a companion than the stray dog. But, of course, the dog never tast...more
She has as much business keeping a stray dog as she would walking across Egypt–which not so incidentally is the title of her favorite hymn. She’s Mattie Rigsbee, an independent, strong-minded senior citizen who, at seventy-eight, might be slowing down just a bit. When teenage delinquent Wesley Benfield drops in on her life, he is even less likely a companion than the stray dog. But, of course, the dog never tast...more
Aug 17, 2012
Elizabeth
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorites,
pop-fiction
"Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matthew 25:40 is Mattie Rigsby's favorite Bible passage and she takes it to heart.
She befriends the Juvenile delinquent nephew of her new friend, the dog catcher. She and young Wesley form a bond and she realizes that Wesley needs a Grandma... Wesley needs her.
Mattie loves to make big meals and serves them to her family, friends, neighbors and just about any passerby. Wesley...more
She befriends the Juvenile delinquent nephew of her new friend, the dog catcher. She and young Wesley form a bond and she realizes that Wesley needs a Grandma... Wesley needs her.
Mattie loves to make big meals and serves them to her family, friends, neighbors and just about any passerby. Wesley...more
1 like · like · see review
Cute. Well-drawn characters and honest dialogue that makes you think you're sitting at the table (and eating the delicious food!) in the small North Carolina town. Mattie, in her late 70s, is comfortable in her own home feeding family and friends alike but she knows 'she's slowin' down some." She comes in contact with a young hood, and thinks that Jesus would want her to be a good person to him and help him out, which leads to humorous and sometimes touching results. It's more a character study...more
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Clyde Edgerton is widely considered one of the premier novelists working in the Southern tradition today, often compared with such masters as Eudora Welty and Flannery O'Connor.
Although most of his books deal with adult concerns--marriage, aging, birth and death--Edgerton's work is most profoundly about family. In books such as Raney, Walking Across Egypt, The Floatplane Notebooks, and Killer Dill...more
More about Clyde Edgerton...
Although most of his books deal with adult concerns--marriage, aging, birth and death--Edgerton's work is most profoundly about family. In books such as Raney, Walking Across Egypt, The Floatplane Notebooks, and Killer Dill...more
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“She walked into the kitchen, turned on the light and saw through the window that the eastern sky as dark red. It was her favorite time of the day. She stepped out onto the back step. It was cool. She also liked it when it was cold and she could stand there taking in the cold morning while the sky was red, and time stopped stood still, and rested for a minute. People thought that time never stood still, except in Joshua when the sun stood still; but she knew that for a minute before sunrise when the sky began to lighten, showing dark early clouds, there was often a pause when nothing moved, not even time, and she was always happy to be up and in that moment; sometimes she tried to stand perfectly still, to not move with time not moving, and it seemed that if she were not careful she might slip out of this world and into another. That made the moment risky, bright shining, and very still at the same time. She hoped that when her time came, it would be close to morning, and she could wait for the still moment.”
—
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May 31, 2012 03:09pm