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57th out of 141 books
—
57 voters
Lunch at the Piccadilly
Welcome to the Rosehaven Convalescence Center in beautiful Listre, North Carolina. Recuperating after a recent fall, Lil Olive sits on the front porch, chitchatting with and rocking right alongside the regulars. There’s tiny Maudie Lowe with her cane that seems too tall; Beatrice Satterwhite, whose fancy three-wheeled walker is a Cadillac among Chevrolets; Clara Cochran, w...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
September 21st 2004
by Ballantine Books
(first published 2003)
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What a great book. A lighthearted, easy going and insightful story of nephew devoted to his aging aunt.
Aunt Lil has taken a spill and is recovering in the local rest home. Her nephew, Carl, is respectful of his elders and always there to lend a hand. He takes Aunt Lil out to lunch with her friends, helps with financial details, and sometimes attempts to talk about tough topics like Aunt Lil giving up her driver's license.
Carl, meanwhile, hasn't started his life in some ways. He's just now thin...more
Aunt Lil has taken a spill and is recovering in the local rest home. Her nephew, Carl, is respectful of his elders and always there to lend a hand. He takes Aunt Lil out to lunch with her friends, helps with financial details, and sometimes attempts to talk about tough topics like Aunt Lil giving up her driver's license.
Carl, meanwhile, hasn't started his life in some ways. He's just now thin...more
Dec 20, 2010
Marfita
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people who plan on having elderly relatives
Recommended to Marfita by:
The Book Group
This book was read by my book group a number of years ago when I was still caring for a parent (or maybe two - I've forgotten how long ago it was) with dementia so I opted to not read it. I have my own painful and/or cute stories about elderly people and I didn't need more. Then the library read Walking Across Egypt by Edgerton and that was so good that when I saw this book on display I decided to read it as well.
Carl visits his aunt in a reasonably nice nursing home. She wants to go home, but...more
Carl visits his aunt in a reasonably nice nursing home. She wants to go home, but...more
For anyone reading these, a note: I'm penning these reviews to help me with my writing -- what I like, don't like, what stays with me after a read. Maybe it will help you too. I found this title on a reading list for a writing seminar in Wisconsin that I didn't attend (a good place for recommendations!) This is the story of a middle-aged bachelor, Carl, who patiently looks after his Aunt Lil at a convalescent center. Aunt Lil wants to go home and not give up driving. (A side note: Lilly and Carl...more
poignant, if sometimes annoying, story of a 40 year old man who is caring for his elderly aunt, who recently moved to a nursing home after numerous falls. Carl, the nephew,was raised by his mother and two aunts and he has cared for each of them in turn as they have approached death. He has a nice relationship with his last living relative, Aunt Lil. The story revolves around the cast of characters at the nursing home. Some of it was sweet. I was bored by the crazy sermons given by a preacher rec...more
This is the first Clyde Edgerton novel I've ever read and it was quite good. Actually, funny, endearing and full of opinionated seniors who live in a Nursing Home.
From back cover:
"Welcome to the Rosehaven Convalescence Center in beautiful Listre, North Carolina. Recuperating after a recent fall, Lil Olive sits on the front porch, chitchatting with and rocking right alongside the regulars. There's tiny Maudie Lowe, with her cane that seems too tall; Beatrice Satterwhite, whose fancy three-wheeled...more
From back cover:
"Welcome to the Rosehaven Convalescence Center in beautiful Listre, North Carolina. Recuperating after a recent fall, Lil Olive sits on the front porch, chitchatting with and rocking right alongside the regulars. There's tiny Maudie Lowe, with her cane that seems too tall; Beatrice Satterwhite, whose fancy three-wheeled...more
My mom is living in the memory unit of a retirement community, and she has stroke-related dementia. I liked this book because I felt that the conversations and events have occurred at retirement centers everywhere. The story is bittersweet, and while I laughed at many incidents, I also teared up several times. Whether or not you enjoy this book will depend on your age and your interactions with your own family, especially older members.
The story is set in North Carolina, and that is where I was...more
The story is set in North Carolina, and that is where I was...more
When I first ordered this book from the library I thought it was going to be based in London, England since it’s called “Lunch at the Piccadilly”, so I was in for quite a surprise when I started reading and it was about a nursing home in the southern US! Misplaced expectations aside I was surprised by how much I really enjoyed this book. I don’t have any experience as a caretaker for an older relative so I’ve never really thought about the issues and the guilt surrounding that position. I think...more
A fun read set at the Rosehaven Convalescence Center in North Carolina. Most of the time they sit out out on the porch and talk about each other. Aunt Lil is there because of a recent fall and is anxious to go back to her apartment and to drive again. Her Nephew Carl visits quite often and takes her to lunch at the Piccidilly, a true Southern buffet. He is even brave enough to take three of the ladies shoe shopping. Brother flowers, an evangelical preacher has a plan to combine nursing homes and...more
I was disappointed in this book. I remember “Walking Across Egypt” as a laugh-out-loud belly laugh book, and perhaps I was expecting too much with this one. Carl, a middle-aged bachelor, spends a lot of time with his Aunt Lil who is a patient at the Rosehaven Convalescence Center. He also visits with the other patients, among them Mr. L. Ray Flowers, a long-winded evangelical preacher. Flowers thinks that nursing homes and churches should unite – a national group called “Nurches of America, Chur...more
Unimaginably bad. No story to speak of, flat characters, and a really poor reflection on the types of great personalities that can be found in the South.
There are a lot of good things about this book: I liked the subject and the way it pointed out the challenges of making good decisions about the aging in our society and I also liked some of the characters and their attitudes. But the story just didn't have the true Edgerton magic: it felt like he was writing about a subject that he was not completely attuned to and the heart just wasn't there. So I felt a little distant from the characters, even though I have been in the situation of taking car...more
Really I give it a 3 1/2
What I enjoyed about this novel were all the funny, quirky (many true)comments from Aunt Lil, Maudie, Mr. Flowers, Beatrice, and Clara. The tangents and the out of no where questions kept the topics (aging, nursing homes, and loss of independence and functions) from being too depressing. Some of my favorite moments was the initial driving scene (why are my feet outside?), stealing the car and wanting to buy a flag for Mr. Flower's movement, the escalator, William and Lee...more
What I enjoyed about this novel were all the funny, quirky (many true)comments from Aunt Lil, Maudie, Mr. Flowers, Beatrice, and Clara. The tangents and the out of no where questions kept the topics (aging, nursing homes, and loss of independence and functions) from being too depressing. Some of my favorite moments was the initial driving scene (why are my feet outside?), stealing the car and wanting to buy a flag for Mr. Flower's movement, the escalator, William and Lee...more
I love reading Edgerton when I am in North Carolina. He is so satircal and witty. The descriptions of the lunch counter selections was so perfect. Sophie used to love going to a similar cafeteria (The K&W)when it was at our local mall and ordering all those southern delicacies: fried chicken, greens, gelatinous desserts, sweet tea.
This novel had the usual eccentric characters and an engaging plot line. The best part of the novel was the epilogue: the lyrics to the songs had me laughing out l...more
This novel had the usual eccentric characters and an engaging plot line. The best part of the novel was the epilogue: the lyrics to the songs had me laughing out l...more
Recommended by a close friend, this warm and sometimes unsettling novel offers a glimpse of both the ups and downs of aging, and for anyone who has experienced the loss of an elderly family member to the slow deterioration of the mind, it touches a nerve. Other books that deal with this same situation are Poorhouse Fair by John Updike, Jimi Hendrix Turns Eighty by Tim Sandlin, Jerusalem Gap by T. R. Pearson, and Simon's Night by Jon Hassler. All have a degree of healthy humor in them, some more...more
Read Clyde Edgerton a long time ago and decided to give this a try - in the car, via CD. Took some time for me to warm to it, but the last third was lovely - touching, very human, a clear portrait, it seemed, of nursing home inhabitants, their struggles at the ends of their lives, and the struggles of the relatives that take care of them. Very colorful characters and dialogue - and the theme of memory and the hold it has on us and its impact on the present.
The cover notes describe a scene in which four elderly women escape from the nursing home, steal a car, and go joy-riding. Kind of like a Thelma & Louise for senior citizens.
The story has funny moments, and these women do steal a car and go joy-riding, but their adventure is bittersweet. The novel is a compassionate look at advanced aging, and the challenges elderly people and those who care for them face.
The story has funny moments, and these women do steal a car and go joy-riding, but their adventure is bittersweet. The novel is a compassionate look at advanced aging, and the challenges elderly people and those who care for them face.
Jul 24, 2011
Kshappert
added it
I've read a few of Edgerton's books and they are all situated in the South (at least those that I have read) and the humor is more relevant if you live in the South. This book was funny, but also overall pretty sad. The middle aged protaganist is taking care of his aged childless aunt. Much shenanigans go on at her nursing home, but the overall theme is how difficult it is to watch someone grow old.
I liked this a lot more than I expected to. My beef with Clyde Edgerton is that occasionally he sacrifices substance for humor; however, in this book I thought the humor was well-balanced with tenderness and that most of what he wrote seemed real. His attention to detail is incredible, especially with regard to dialogue. I especially appreciate this after living in Edgerton's part of the state for the past two years...
Started the book but was immediately distracted by the emphasis on telling instead of showing (i.e.--too much narration). The story sounded great, and I wanted to explore the relationship between the two characters further, but after two or three chapters of excessive narration, I simply put it down and moved on to other things.
Carl Turnage cares for his Aunt Lil and becomes involved with her friends at Rosehaven Nursing Home. He also meets L. Ray Flowers, the reformed Pentecostal preacher who now pursues his vision to make nursing homes and churches interchangeable. The stories of the elderly are told with compassion and empathy, as well as brutal honesty.
Set in North CArolina, which is definitely southern. Not one of my favorite Clyde Edgerton books-- words i never thought I'd utter. Maybe reading about geriatric antics hits too close to home now. However, it did make me recall all those family meals at the Piccadilly...
Comic novel of a nephew, Carl, who visits his Aunt Lily at Rosehaven Convalescence home and gets to know her friends while he realizes she is getting too old to care for herself anymore. Good book about facing aging with a sense of humor, love and honesty. Sometimes a bit silly, but overall message is heartwarming.
If you have ever had a loved one in a bad nursing home, this book will sadden you at times. However Edgerton is an excellent writer who captures many funny moments in the lives of these characters making it an easy, enjoyable read.
I love Clyde Edgerton...and this book definitely fits right in with his others. The way he captures the lives of the elderly is hilarious and also poignant. I loved it and literally laughed out loud at several passages!
A short, funny book with an accurate depiction of life in a nursing home. I think I'm still a little troubled by my Grandmother's recent passing to enjoy all the humor. But you can tell by the character's stories that this author has experienced the same thing.
Carl's Aunt Lil Olive has recently gone into a nursing home after a bad fall. Lil badly wants to go home and get behind the wheel of her car since her driver's license doesn't expire until she's 97. Sweet.
This is a great book for old and young alike. Old folks can relate to it. Young folks gain insight. Funny in parts, moving in parts. My favorite scene is when Aunt Lil drives around with her legs sticking out the front door!
Loved this book! It's a laugh-out-loud book from beginning to end. Some parts very touching--a story about the elderly, their striving to keep independent, and what we can all learn along the way.
My grandmother took me to the Piccadilly every Sunday after church to eat. The food is just as good now as it was then and I still eat there once a week. This book really reminded me of those days.
Sad, touching book with a few funny moments. A dedicated nephew's visits to his aging, favorite aunt at a nursing home. It features a varied cast of characters, much like real life.
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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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