In this national bestseller, Bailey White—whose accounts of Southern eccentricity have enchanted millions of listeners to National Public Radi...
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reviews
Aug 18, 2007
Belinda
rated it: 
I had forgotten about this one until Sheryl put it up on her "to-read" shelf. I'm going to have to pull it down and read it again. It was passed along to me by a good friend with whom I share a very Southern sense of humor, and so was a huge hit.
It's no secret that I adore Southern fiction and non-fiction, and prefer it to any other genre of literature. This charming little book is a prime example of the appeal for me. While this book is not "great literature" More...
It's no secret that I adore Southern fiction and non-fiction, and prefer it to any other genre of literature. This charming little book is a prime example of the appeal for me. While this book is not "great literature" More...
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May 25, 2011
Jeanette
rated it: 
3 1/2 stars
Fun little 2-6 page pieces about her life in Georgia. Great book to have around for nights of insomnia when you need something light and not too taxing. Most of the funniest pieces are the ones about her mom, early in the book. "Porsche" and "Birth of the Blues" made me laugh out loud. "An Interesting Life" gave me chills. What an experience to look back on! "Mortality," about her old car, cracked me up. All of the stories were More...
Fun little 2-6 page pieces about her life in Georgia. Great book to have around for nights of insomnia when you need something light and not too taxing. Most of the funniest pieces are the ones about her mom, early in the book. "Porsche" and "Birth of the Blues" made me laugh out loud. "An Interesting Life" gave me chills. What an experience to look back on! "Mortality," about her old car, cracked me up. All of the stories were More...
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Feb 26, 2011
Brenda
rated it: 
As a general rule, collections of short stories drive me nuts. This was a book full of 2-3 page vignettes that had no connection to each other besides the fact that the author's mother was in each story and each story happened in the South. It was a bunch of anecdotes told in the way a mother would tell stories of her childhood to her children - which would have been fine if there was a logical flow, or the stories built on each other, but they didn't. I could tell within twenty pages that th
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Feb 10, 2010
Rick
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Whether written (in books such as this) or spoken (in her oral essays on NPR), I love Bailey White's voice. It is honest, original, entertaining and yet carries insight that can be quite biting at times. Better still, it is oh so southern. She is a master storyteller who manages to fit whole stories into the space of a short essay. Aspiring writers should study her opening lines and paragraphs to see how a great writer draws a reader in. How about these for opening sentences? "We shou
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Jan 28, 2010
Meg
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This had lots of fun stories about growing up in the south. I really enjoyed the one about her watching scary movies and then being afraid to do anything at home. I can relate to that!
My favorite was when she was talking about her first grade class, and how they couldn't go on a field trip to the reptile center because of budget cuts. So she gets a snake from her house and brings it to school. In the process, they have to ice the snake to calm him down, he gets loose in the room, and More...
My favorite was when she was talking about her first grade class, and how they couldn't go on a field trip to the reptile center because of budget cuts. So she gets a snake from her house and brings it to school. In the process, they have to ice the snake to calm him down, he gets loose in the room, and More...
May 06, 2009
bookczuk
rated it:
Bailey White is a southern treasure. I first heard her on NPR, when she used to read her essays during "Morning Edition". With her raspy voice, I thought she was about 90. Then one day I heard she was doing a book signing here in town. I raced to see her (nearly got a ticket on the way- the only reason I didn't was that the nice police officer liked Bailey White too and could understand my hurry.) Got there and there is Bailey White, closer in age to me than to my grandmother ( or to m
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Apr 23, 2010
Naomi
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Comparing this author to Fannie Flagg is a discredit to the fantastic works of Flagg. Bailey White has a lot of potential to become a great author, but she hasn't reached it yet. I do not understand the great heaps of praise that this book has received. The characters are flat and unexplored beyond the tiny little stories they are featured in, and the stories have no connection between them other than that they were all experienced by the same person, and that Mama is involved someway in almo
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Aug 19, 2009
Marc
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This is a moderately fictionalized collection of short stories about the author’s life. Her writing, and stories, reminded me a great deal of my wife and so it’s no surprise I found myself liking the author as a person. The author has a talent for taking a story about a mundane moment in life and making it interesting. Throughout the stories she is gently self-depreciating which injects much humor. There are plenty of laughs. It’s a fast easy read and as each story is three to seven pages which
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Dec 03, 2009
JG (The Introverted Reader)
rated it:
You should see my copy of this book. One of my co-workers, who, for various reasons, has only recently seen how much I read, saw all the neon post-it flags sticking out of the side of my book and asked me what on earth I was doing. I blushed and tried to explain how the people in Bailey White's humorous little reflection on life in the South kept reminding me of people I know, so I was just marking the pages. She said that she'd never heard of anyone doing that, looked at me like I was weird,
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Apr 02, 2009
Judaye
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Bailey White’s Mama Makes Up Her Mind and Other Dangers of Southern Living is illustrative of the complexity present within a seemingly simple subject or person. The book seeks to show the influence of mothers, and they power they wield in shaping their children’s inner lives and the way they respond to the world around them. Mama appears to be a benign,traditional wife and mother who makes her home the center of her universe. Mama White consciously or unconsciously rebels against the s
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Nov 21, 2011
R.L.B.
rated it:
I'd heard of Bailey White, but this is the first book of hers that I've read. It won't be the last. Next to cat cozies, Southern eccentricities are my kind of light, enjoyable reading, and White delivers her eccentrics in a lyrical way that delights. The chapter headings, while accurate to a fault, don't clue the reader in to what awaits, and what awaits is always quirky, humorous and sometimes hilarious, a smorgasbord of life in the South. White takes us along with the main character from incid
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May 23, 2010
Ruth
rated it:
229 pages. Donated 2010 May.
Welcome to the unique world of Bailey White. Her aunt Belle may take you to see the alligator she's taught to bellow on command. Her uncle Jimbuddy may appall you with his knack for losing pieces of himself. Most of all, you may succumb utterly to the charms of Bailey's mama - who may take you to Rosey's, a North Florida juke joint so raunchy it scared Ernest Hemingway, and then tuck you into an antique bed that has the disconcerting habit of folding up on More...
Welcome to the unique world of Bailey White. Her aunt Belle may take you to see the alligator she's taught to bellow on command. Her uncle Jimbuddy may appall you with his knack for losing pieces of himself. Most of all, you may succumb utterly to the charms of Bailey's mama - who may take you to Rosey's, a North Florida juke joint so raunchy it scared Ernest Hemingway, and then tuck you into an antique bed that has the disconcerting habit of folding up on More...
Dec 06, 2011
A collection of essays that first became familiar to many through her readings on NPR, MAMA MAKES UP HER MIND is a trip back to Flannery O’Connor territory, with perhaps a side route to Capote-land. White’s world is far darker than her spinster schoolteacher facade might indicate–snakes lost in first-grade classrooms, rotting tomatoes that refuse to become “sun-dried”–though, again like O’Connor in “A Late Encounter with the Enemy,” the overlay of pure hilarity has earned her many unwary fans.
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Feb 15, 2011
Jessica
rated it:
One of those books that makes you wonder: is everyone in the south full of quirks? Bailey White's mama sure is, and Bailey does an amazing job of writing about them. And her own quirks, frankly, which probably come from being raised by her strong-willed, intelligent, and just a tad off-beat mama. My personal favorite is Bailey wearing a maternity dress and wedding ring to deterr strange men when she travels alone. Then she's baffled when the man next to her on the bus keeps trying to help her
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Sep 14, 2011
Theresa
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This was a funny book full of stories about the author's family; mostly her eccentric mother. She talked about the small town she lived in and the characters you might come across. These were stories that warmed my heart, because the people reminded me of people I know. At the very end of the book, she talked about being a first grade teacher and some funny happenings. One was where she brought in a snake for her reptile lesson, because the school district could not afford to send the class
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Feb 20, 2010
Mom
rated it:
This is a great book and is best read aloud with a friend. Anyone who has ever had a kooky elderly relative, (don't we all?)lived in the South, or just wants to have a heart warming laugh will love this book.
My daughter and I have read "the Mama book" as we fondly call it to each other several times. We laugh at Mama's antics every time as if we had never heard the stories contained within this charming book. We sometimes form an "o" with our thumbs and index f More...
My daughter and I have read "the Mama book" as we fondly call it to each other several times. We laugh at Mama's antics every time as if we had never heard the stories contained within this charming book. We sometimes form an "o" with our thumbs and index f More...
Aug 14, 2011
Caitlin
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The jacket of this book mentions that Bailey White is a former first grade teacher. I was very lucky to be in her class the last year she taught. My mother was worried about the class because her room had no decorations in it, which made my mother assume she was not very creative. Within a week or two, my mother visited the room again to find it was filled with many different art projects that Miss White had led her students in making.
Like my first grade classroom, this collection o More...
Like my first grade classroom, this collection o More...
Aug 02, 2009
Helen
rated it:
OMG! A friend of mine gave this book to me and said that the 'Mama' in the book reminded her of my mother so I should read it. I read it, then gave it to my mother to read without telling her what my friend had said. My mother read it, called me up and said, "That Bailey White, she reminds me of YOU!" Lordy, it was like looking in the mirror! Bailey White is a delight. I later got the audio version and it is even better to listen to the author's raspy southern accent. Read it!
Feb 01, 2010
Frank
rated it:
A fun book of shorts about the author's life in rural Georgia. I liked most of the stories, and Bailey White seems to ba a very interesting person.
My favorites were growing the wild plant garden, teaching first graders to read using the story of the Titanic and her adventures as a firefighter.
The most poignat story for me wis when she tells about using the story of Joan of Arc to rteach her children, and then realizes how much it glorifies war.
My favorites were growing the wild plant garden, teaching first graders to read using the story of the Titanic and her adventures as a firefighter.
The most poignat story for me wis when she tells about using the story of Joan of Arc to rteach her children, and then realizes how much it glorifies war.
Mar 31, 2011
Anita
rated it:
Just as good the second time around. This time I read it aloud for a senior citizen literature class. It is easy to read aloud and everyone found it just as amusing as I did. Life with her mother is funny and inspiring. Her essays about teaching first grade are wonderful. I read "Maritime Disasters" at every teacher workshop I teach and it never fails to give me the big inspirational ending I'm looking for.
Sep 14, 2010
Dee
rated it:
Fast, easy read and funny stories from the South. It reminded me a little bit of Celia Rivenbark's stories, but these were more embellished, I THINK.
Mama was a character, and nothing held Mama down. She liked to read UFO magazines. I found that to be a hoot!
I laughed out loud about Mama and the heavy breather on the telephone.
New word (for me) lickerish - adj. greedy or eager esp. to eat or taste.
Mama was a character, and nothing held Mama down. She liked to read UFO magazines. I found that to be a hoot!
I laughed out loud about Mama and the heavy breather on the telephone.
New word (for me) lickerish - adj. greedy or eager esp. to eat or taste.
Sep 19, 2011
Jennifer
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I remember listening to Bailey White on NPR and picked this gem up on the Borders clearance racks. Great compliation of short stories that make me wish I had a southern grandma and a whole bunch of weird relatives (well maybe I have some of those - but they're not southern). Very short vignettes, charming. Bailey White didn't start writing til she was 40 so maybe I still have a chance.
Aug 29, 2010
Rebekkila
rated it:
Usually the books that I read about children growing up in the south involve some faulty parenting. Mama Makes up her Mind was very refreshing, it was a love letter from a daughter to her mother. Mama had her own way of doing things and no matter how strange these things were they had a way of working out. I loved most of the book, but toward the end it centered more on the author than on her mother and I liked those anecdotes a bit less.
Dec 03, 2008
What can you say about Bailey White? Every thing I read by her I hear her wonderfully raspy, very Southern voice, reading it to me. It helps that the stories are deeper than they seem, and yet full of a whimsy that somehow only seems to show up in Southern writers. If you have a decent Dixie accent, you should read it aloud. If not, shut up and read it to yourself.
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Jul 11, 2009
Fred
rated it:
I enjoyed this much more than I expected I would. I had heard some of Bailey White's pieces on NPR, so her distinctive voice was familiar to me. I think having her pace and tone in mind while reading her short, autobiographical essays is ideal, but the stories are strong on their own. Individually, they occasionally seem like mere slices of life, but the cumulative effect creates an image of White's slightly askew, endlessly interesting, and deeply Southern life and family. And as an added bonus
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Mar 21, 2010
Angie
rated it:
I enjoyed this compilation of short essays by Bailey White. For the most part, they center around her life in rural Georgia and the home she shares with her mother. White's writing is very entertaining and she manages to bring her eccentric cast of characters to life in a way that pokes fun without demeaning them.
Dec 09, 2009
M and G
rated it:
A charming collection of quirky tales from a first-grade teacher, about her work, her family and her community. A real insight into rural Georgia and the life of one fairly unusual family and its individuals. A very easy book to read it invites you to read the next chapter as soon as you have finished the last.
Feb 27, 2009
Chana
rated it:
Funny, sweet, charming vignettes of an unusual lifestyle. The author is a 1st grade teacher and I wonder if she isn't a bit like Miss Frizzle of The Magic School Bus. She takes alligators in stride and her mother can sleep outside calmly during a hurricane. It was worth reading.
Nov 09, 2010
Tabatha
rated it:
Collection of article length shorts, all with a twist. Cute, favorite is a reference
to Mayhaw jelly, from berries found in the swamps. Enjoy this after eating mayhaw
jelly in a diner that serves breakfast (1 menu choice) and mayhaw jelly is the only
condiment beside ketchup.
to Mayhaw jelly, from berries found in the swamps. Enjoy this after eating mayhaw
jelly in a diner that serves breakfast (1 menu choice) and mayhaw jelly is the only
condiment beside ketchup.
Jan 08, 2009
Pam
rated it:
Perfect little book for those times when you want to get into someone else's life. Bailey's momma is a treasure, and a good example of someone who lives on her own terms, without worrying about inconsequential things. I'd love to have a bathtub on my front porch.
