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14th out of 47 books
—
43 voters
My rating:
add to my books
Standing in the Rainbow
by
Fannie Flagg
Along with Neighbor Dorothy, the lady with the smile in her voice, whose daily radio broadcasts keep us delightfully informed on all the local news, we also meet Bobby, her ten-year-old son, destined to live a thousand lives, most of them in his imagination; Norma and Macky Warren and their ninety-eight-year-old Aunt Elner; the oddly sexy and charismatic Hamm Sparks and th...more
Paperback, 560 pages
Published
August 3rd 2004
by Ballantine Books
(first published May 1st 2002)
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You know, sometimes I just need a book that is not going to scare me, get my hackles raised, or make me sad and depressed. This is the perfect book to cleanse the soul after reading some heavy books. I had been reading "The Alienist" and "Wicked", but I found myself feeling so heavy and sad. So I put the books down and went to find something light and airy.
I love this book. It's sweet. It's a throwback to times when neighbors actually knew each other and liked ea...more
I love this book. It's sweet. It's a throwback to times when neighbors actually knew each other and liked ea...more
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John Mcconahey
added it
If you’re a middle-of-the-last-century person like me, this fine account of a mid-American town will give the reader a snapshot of a populace with values far different from those displayed today.
The glue for this multi-directional tale is the Smith family. “Doc” is the pharmacist in the small Missouri town of Elmwood Springs. He’s married to Dorothy, host of a folksy daily radio program sponsored by the Golden Flake Flour Company and broadcast from the living room of their home. The Smith chi...more
The glue for this multi-directional tale is the Smith family. “Doc” is the pharmacist in the small Missouri town of Elmwood Springs. He’s married to Dorothy, host of a folksy daily radio program sponsored by the Golden Flake Flour Company and broadcast from the living room of their home. The Smith chi...more
Msgrv Csicablenet
added it
This book was really like going home, alll these characters remind me of someone in the past or present it was like taking a walk through time.
Many times I found myself LOL it was so funny. I like all of the books of Fanni Flagg for different reason, I loved reading about the Mystic Order of the Royal Polka Dot Secret Society witht he club motto "To Toot Your Own Horn is Unattractive" A Redbird Christmas
That was then now if we do not toot our own horn in the work field who will?
Li...more
Many times I found myself LOL it was so funny. I like all of the books of Fanni Flagg for different reason, I loved reading about the Mystic Order of the Royal Polka Dot Secret Society witht he club motto "To Toot Your Own Horn is Unattractive" A Redbird Christmas
That was then now if we do not toot our own horn in the work field who will?
Li...more
I felt such a sense of nostalgia when I read this book, for a place and time I never experienced. It's the same feeling I get when I watch A Christmas Story or It's a Wonderful Life.
When you're little and you get sick, you always know there's a place for you on Mom's lap - there is a comfort in knowing that you will be taken care of.
I never experienced the 40s and 50s, but I sense from that time that the same secure feeling existed - a confidence in the greatness of Americ...more
When you're little and you get sick, you always know there's a place for you on Mom's lap - there is a comfort in knowing that you will be taken care of.
I never experienced the 40s and 50s, but I sense from that time that the same secure feeling existed - a confidence in the greatness of Americ...more
I love Fannie Flagg, that said, the first half of this book is fun and you can read a couple pages a day and chuckle and enjoy but it's easy to put down to read something else more pressing. WELL, after getting about 60% through it (reading on my kindle) it finally grabbed me with a very interesting story line. Not that the first half wasn't interesting it was but it gets even better as it goes along.
Kudos to Fannie Flagg. I liked Can't Wait to get to Heaven even more because I love A...more
Kudos to Fannie Flagg. I liked Can't Wait to get to Heaven even more because I love A...more
Standing in the Rainbow is about several characters and their life experiences from the 1940’s to the 1990’s. Some of the characters in the book are very silly and downright odd. It is interesting to see the world change throughout this book and see people grow up and experience life. Although, it was entertaining to read, it seemed to lack a strong plot and I had a hard time keeping interest in it. It was more about how America has changed through out time and how we as people change.
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Well, here we are again in Elmwood Springs, Missouri ... the same place that welcomed Dena Nordstrom back with open arms in "Welcome to the World, Baby Girl" (another spectacular book!) ... but this time, as six decades are spanned, we learn about the lives of those who made up "the most middle town in America" (p. 446).
The Neighbor Dorothy Show on WDOT is used as a storytelling device - her broadcasts and family life being the focal point from which all other sto...more
The Neighbor Dorothy Show on WDOT is used as a storytelling device - her broadcasts and family life being the focal point from which all other sto...more
This was my first Fannie Flagg. I felt a little overwhelmed by the first 100 pages or so. I don't really know why or how to explain it, but it felt like the prose was coming at me out of a fire hose in the beginning. Maybe it was that Flagg was trying to immerse us quickly into a town and a lot of characters and I felt like my head was being truly immersed and I was gasping for breath now and then. Whatever, it did finally settle down - or I simply got used to it. I found it curious that the lit...more
This was a really fun read that my Mom suggested. Fannie Flagg is also the author of Fried Green Tomatoes which I loved.
This book is a generational story that starts out with one family as the focus then branches out to all of their friends and neighbors and follows them over the decades, from the 40's to the 90's. I have to admit that I like the first half of the book a lot more than the second half though. Probably because the 40's and 50's seem a little more upbeat in writing...more
This book is a generational story that starts out with one family as the focus then branches out to all of their friends and neighbors and follows them over the decades, from the 40's to the 90's. I have to admit that I like the first half of the book a lot more than the second half though. Probably because the 40's and 50's seem a little more upbeat in writing...more
I loved this book. It covered the time span between the mid 1940's to the 1990's and was set in the a small Midwest town called Elmwood Springs, Missouri. The storyline centers around the Smith family: Doc Smith who runs a pharmacy, his daughter--Anna Lee, Bobby--his younger son and his indomitable wife--Dorothy who broadcasts "Good Neighbor, Dorothy" over the radio station from her own living room. Much of her broadcasts are delightfully chronicled in the book as she reads charming...more
I absolutely love Fannie Flagg's novels. They are laugh-out-loud funny, and somehow comforting too, possibly because her characters remind me of the small-town relatives I knew as a child. Flagg evokes that sense of place, too, and almost a kind of innocence that used to be part of life in a small town (and perhaps still is). To be honest, I would like to live in one of her books, in that little burg where things move at an unhurried pace and the people are down-to-earth, simple, hard-working,...more
I absolutely loved this book and have declared it as one of my favorites. I did listen to this book on CD and believe the wonderful narrator helped bring the story alive but the story itself is heartwarming and true to the test of time. The book is basically about a small town in Missouri and the different people who live there. The books starts when mostly everyone is in childhood or young adulthood and takes the reader through the years along with the characters. Some amazing things can happen...more
Ruth
rated it
Recommends it for:
anyone who enjoys people
Recommended to Ruth by:
Book Club Assignment
A book like Standing under the Rainbow is like a visit going home. You find yourself in another place and another time with all the nostalgia, joys, home-town experiences that make for a life satisfying and very human. I loved Dorothy with her daily radio talk show showing so much love for those around her and for proving that small kindnesses make a difference. The characters in the story are beautifully drawn out, even to the little Cocker Spaniel, Princess Mary Margaret. The Oatman Gospel...more
This book starts in 1946 in Elmwood Springs, Missouri. Neighbor Dorothy has a live radio show out of her living room. Fannie describes all the characters in town and tells bits and pieces of their lives throughout a fifty year period. I know that some of the characters cross over to at least one of her other books. I was quite frustrated with the first half of the book. There just didn’t seem to be a story that ran together. Then she spends about 10 chapters on one couple, leaving you the feelin...more
What a pleasant read! This is the perfect book if you're a "read before bed" kind of reader. The chapters are short and it's easy to read just a few, feel like you reached a stopping place and have a content night's sleep. This was recommended to me by a book club friend because I was sans book at the moment. I'm glad I read it.
It follows the lives of several people in small town America (later in the book a character actually petitions the town board to change their slogan to "...more
It follows the lives of several people in small town America (later in the book a character actually petitions the town board to change their slogan to "...more
Light, funny, colloquial, surprising, and overall better than I expected. I tend to dismiss Flagg as nostalgic and targeted to seniors - a bit like Jan Karon. But this book surprised me - perhaps because I needed a pleasant read, perhaps because Noah loved listening to it. We listened to the audio in the car, and Flagg is an excellent reader. I'm pretty sure Noah liked it mostly because her voice sounds like a fun-loving grandmother. I liked that the story took twists and turns I didn't expect. ...more
It is nice to imagine a town such as the one depicted in this book. This is a fun positive read where you meet an interesting collection of characters and see them develop over the years.
I read the book Can't wait to get to Heaven and loved it so much that I could not wait to read another book by Fannie Flagg. I got Standing in the Rainbow and was suprised and happy that the same characters were in Standing in the Rainbow as in Can't wait to get to Heaven. I liked this book because I wanted to find out more about the characters that were in Can't wait to get to Heaven, but if I had read this book first before reading Can't wait to get to Heaven, I don't know how well I would hav...more
My all-time favorite Fannie Flagg book, one of my all-time favorites. The characters are so attatching and lovable, the plot is engaging...Love it!
I often have seen Fannie Flagg books on the new fiction shelf at the
library. This was my first of her books read/hear. I listened to the
CD of Fannie reading her book. She has a down-home voice, and her
story was about small-town, good people, Southerners. There was the
"Neighbor Dorthy" radio program and the travelling gospel singers, the
political wife was was a victim of her husband's political ambitions
(similar to Lurleen Wallace), but who is a r...more
library. This was my first of her books read/hear. I listened to the
CD of Fannie reading her book. She has a down-home voice, and her
story was about small-town, good people, Southerners. There was the
"Neighbor Dorthy" radio program and the travelling gospel singers, the
political wife was was a victim of her husband's political ambitions
(similar to Lurleen Wallace), but who is a r...more
love Fannie Flagg. There are just no two ways about it. She could write her shopping list and I would read it. She writes about people I want to know and places I want to live. Her worlds are the way we want to the world to be, the world we think of when we think back nostalgically to “the way it used to be”.
I read Standing in the Rainbow when it first came out and, of course, loved it. Then awhile back I was clicking through my libraries list of downloadable audio books and saw it lis...more
I read Standing in the Rainbow when it first came out and, of course, loved it. Then awhile back I was clicking through my libraries list of downloadable audio books and saw it lis...more
Fannie Flagg does it again and brings her fictional family into your home for a short spell. Dorthy Smith with a Home Economics degree broadcasts a 1/2 hour radio show from her living room. Her family and sometimes the community get involved in the radio show and soon you are involved in the lives of everyone in Elmwood Springs, Missouri. Her children Anna Lee and Bobby are always cooking up interesting scenarios as young people will. The book takes you through the 1930's to the 1990's and e...more
Perfetta lettura ferragostiniana sotto l'ombrellone su una spiaggia brulicante di bimbi festosi e di fanatici dell'abbronzatura. Lettura tanto più gradita qiuanto successiva a un libro visionario e drammatico quale è Non lasciarmi(adoro Kazuo Ishiguro!)
Ho trascorso ore piacevoli in compagnia di personaggi spesso improbabili, ma decisamente capaci di strapparmi più di un sorriso e spesso anche qualche sana risata.
Evviva Happy Days!
tre stelline e mezzo.
Ho trascorso ore piacevoli in compagnia di personaggi spesso improbabili, ma decisamente capaci di strapparmi più di un sorriso e spesso anche qualche sana risata.
Evviva Happy Days!
tre stelline e mezzo.
This was a very well written and well researched book. It was historical fiction and it covered a small town in Missouri over 7 decades. I read that it takes Fannie a long time to write a book and I am sure it is because she must have researched American history in great detail to produce some of the facts in this book. I have always been fascinated by post world war 2 america, and I just felt like these characters living in those times were so real. I was surprised by the actions of one of ...more
I love Fannie Flagg but, for me, this wasn't a home-run. I listened to the audio book which was read by the author - very cool. At the end, I realized it was abridged so I don't know if that has anything to do with the missing heart of the story. There were lots of characters over a long period of time so there was no passion (on my part) for anyone. It was bright, light, and funny, but it felt more like a list instead of a story with a beginning, middle, and end. Don't get me wrong - I will alw...more
This is more mind candy for a book club. It just dragged on in a Leave it to Beaver vein. The high point which was close to home for me was when a retired man exclaimed to his wife about social networking on the internet: "This is just like ham radio only better!" Previous to that, it was never revealed that he had any interest nor experience with ham radio. I had high hopes since the author wrote _Fried Green Tomatoes_ but was disappointed. I never would have finished had it not ...more
Fannie Flagg's novel, Standing in the Rainbow, illustrates life in a small town from the 1940's to 2000. The novel is set in Elmwood, Missouri where Dorothy Smith, the main character known as Neighbor Dorothy, has her own radio show. This radio show is broadcasted daily from Dorothy's own home, with the help of her mother-in-law, Mother Smith, who plays the organ for the show. Dorothy and her husband, Doc, have two children named Anna Lee and Bobby. The Smith family is one of the most caring fam...more
I read the very first page of this book and said to myself, "Aaah, I am going to love this book." Something about the style it's written in and the setting just had me into it from the beginning. It's set in the south, which is always appealing to me, and starts out in the 1940s. It follows a set of characters through the next 5 decades, and provides a great depiction of what life was like in America throughout these different time periods. It makes you wish for those simpler days ...more
This is the first in a series of 3. Each book is about a different person but it brings in the history of people and stories from the previous books. The setting is the 1940's in a small Missouri town. It's written from a viewpoint of a 10 year old boy who is very entertaining. In today's terms we might call some of these characters OCD or clueless but back then they were just good people who took care of their own in their small town. Hilarious and heart-warming. I would read it over and o...more
Amandacassidy
rated it
Recommends it for:
frenzied city folk who want to sit on a wrap around porch with a lemonade talking to their neighbors
This book is sweet and brings the warm and fuzzies. Fannie Flaggs books are fun reads, especially if you live in the city. This book and her other books talk about small-town life and is always reminicent of a old fashioned, southern or mid west charm where people say hello and smile at one another on the street, work hard and enjoy their families. A woman at the library recommended these books to me and I borrowed them as books on tape. They were really enjoyable and a fun escape! 1
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Simpler times | 3 | 19 | May 02, 2009 02:25pm |
Readers Also Enjoyed
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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