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55th out of 219 books
—
380 voters
Crazy Ladies
by
Michael Lee West (Goodreads Author)
From the author of Mad Girls in Love comes this lively multigenerational tale of six charming, unforgettable Southern women -- a novel of love and laughter, pain and redemption.
Though she was born in Tennessee, Miss Gussie is no country fool. A woman who can handle any situation, she has her hands full with two headstrong daughters who happen to be complete opposites -- do...more
Though she was born in Tennessee, Miss Gussie is no country fool. A woman who can handle any situation, she has her hands full with two headstrong daughters who happen to be complete opposites -- do...more
Paperback, 416 pages
Published
June 14th 2005
by Harper Perennial
(first published July 30th 1991)
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chick lit. michael lee west writes the BEST books! this one is the 'first' book about miss gussie and her antics as she grows up and raises a family. super good read with a southern twist
This story takes place over 40 years, from 1932 to 1972, in the southern United States. It centers around women in a family (5 women plus their maid). The chapters are written in their different voices. The book was a wonderful read, very easy to lose yourself in it for a couple hours. It's especially good if you like southern stories or stories that take place "back in the day", as I do.
Oct 18, 2007
Irene
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who loves southern women and culture
This book is a delight--funny, thought-provoking, sad and also inspirational. The characters are interesting and well-drawn. Hard to put down and one that I read again and again.
Aug 29, 2007
Rachel
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
like stories about crazy women/friendships/females in families
I normally do not like fiction, but I really couldn't put this book down. I grew up the crazy tales and trouble-making characters and I feel like this is a grown up version. The book starts in the earlier part of the 20th century and ends in the 70s, a journey through the secrets and lives of three generations of southern women. I really like the way that the author tells each chapter in a different character's voice. The author has a great way of weaving the characters stories together. The aut...more
Jan 31, 2008
Heather Gay
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
shannan
Recommended to Heather by:
My Mom
Shelves:
favorites
I can always go back to this book for light-hearted laugh out loud fun. Michael Lee West tells the same story from different perspectives, (think Barbara Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible), and the voices are so consistent, so genuine and SO Hilarious. I thought HE was a genius author that could really capture the female voice until I found out that He, Michael Lee West, WAS a woman!! Less impressed once I found that out, but the book is still great. Similar style to Fried Green Tomatoes, etc.
I finished this one last night and I am already missing the characters! I really loved this book! It reminded me so much of Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik, one of my favorite authors. This is southern version with a little more dramatic kick. As crazy and "unlovable" as she was, Dorothy was one of my favorite characters. She needed to be loved so badly but just went about it in all the wrong ways. Oh Dorothy, if only I could have seen you for counseling and a homeopathic remed...more
I first chose this book based solely on the title. I figured any book with a title like this has to be appealing. I myself am occasionally crazy/wacky, so why not read about others that are too! This was a fun book, but I think that it was the author's first book so it isn't written quite as well as the second book, "Mad Girls in Love." However, both books were fun reads.
I have actually read this book quite a few times. It follows the lives of several (quite colorful) southern women through some troubled times but keeps you laughing.
My aunt gave me this to read. I'm finally on the last chapter today. It has been such a great read that I'm disappointed that it will be over after this last chapter.
Crazy Ladies is a multigenerational story of 6 unforgettable Southern women - Miss Gussie; her daughters, Dorothy and Clancy Jane; Gussie's granddaughters, Violet and Bitsy; and Queenie, who had been with Miss Gussie for years.
The book starts out with Miss Gussie trying to calm her daughter, Dorothy, who has the colic. Finally asleep, Charlie, Gussie's husband comes up to the house for his meal, then goes upstairs to bathe. In the meanwhile, a young man comes to the door smelling of corn whiskey...more
The book starts out with Miss Gussie trying to calm her daughter, Dorothy, who has the colic. Finally asleep, Charlie, Gussie's husband comes up to the house for his meal, then goes upstairs to bathe. In the meanwhile, a young man comes to the door smelling of corn whiskey...more
This book was on my "To Read" list for years, and I'm so glad that I finally got around to finding it. With multiple narrators and a fifty-year span, this book covers several generations of southern women and takes us from shortly before WWII through the Vietnam era. I thought it was striking to see both how much things change over time and how much things stay the same.
I loved this book when I found it twenty-plus years ago at Stacey's on Sacramento. And that wasn't the only thing I found in that store that I loved. Later I read her novel She Flew the Coop. Not quite as good but worth reading - not to mention her red beans and rice recipe that is in there. I have been making it ever since.
“Crazy Ladies”
I’m having a hard time deciding between 4 or 5 stars!
The case for 5 stars:
* The book was so good I finished it in 2 days; I could visualize locations and characters.
* The story spanned three generations, and at my age I like that.
* It was about women’s relationships to each other in addition to relationships with men.
* It had that humorous and matter-of-fact attitude “Southern women” have about the practicalities of life and marriage.
* There was affection and loyalty in addition...more
I’m having a hard time deciding between 4 or 5 stars!
The case for 5 stars:
* The book was so good I finished it in 2 days; I could visualize locations and characters.
* The story spanned three generations, and at my age I like that.
* It was about women’s relationships to each other in addition to relationships with men.
* It had that humorous and matter-of-fact attitude “Southern women” have about the practicalities of life and marriage.
* There was affection and loyalty in addition...more
The mother and favored daughter characters reminded me too much of my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, so it was a little disappointing and I don't particulary like books that have a lot of infidelity in them, but most books seem to have that anymore.
I liked this book. The only thing that bothered me was some of the language used, but due to the time setting of this book it made sense I suppose.
I thought it was interesting seeing the story through all of the different characters.
I thought it was interesting seeing the story through all of the different characters.
This was my second West book within a month and even though I only checked it out because the book I wanted wasn't around and I couldn't think of anything else to get, I'm glad I did. This is the kind of book you read while somebody else drives and you have 10 minutes in the car. You have five minutes in a checkout line, so you read some of it. Thirty minutes before bed is plenty of time to learn more and more about the Crazy Ladies of Crystal Falls, Tennessee. A paragraph here, a chapter there....more
I really liked this book. Sometimes books with Appalachian settings are very heavy. Sometimes they are so simple they make southerns look silly or ignorant. I found this book had a very good blend. It tackled some tough issues but it was complemented by humor to lighten it up a bit. The characters were varied as well. The book covered forty years so as the reader, I saw them grow. None of the characters were completely good nor bad. Like real people I know, I found qualities to admire and to dis...more
This is a story of the lives of multi-generations of one family from 1932-1972. It starts out with a covered up murder and follows the lives of Miss Gussie, her two girls, and their children. It has the richness of a comforting southern novel, as well as the wit. It takes you from Tennessee to New Orleans and California to New Mexico and back again. Ironically the favoritism shown by Miss Gussie is continued by the nonfavored daughter with her own children. The story is also interesting in its d...more
I won't go into any details about the book here -- you can read the synopsis and don't need me to reveal the details. What I recommend is if you intend to read Mad Girls in Love, read Crazy Ladies first. I did it in reverse because Mad Girls in Love was available as an ebook and Crazy Ladies wasn't. In fact I read Mermaids in the Basement first of all and loved it, and later was able to view certain overlapping characters in a completely different light after reading about them in Mad Girls in L...more
Found this book at a thrift store and got it for 25 cents. It was possibly the best quarter I have ever spent. As soon as I started it I couldn't put it down. Then wanted to share the experience so loaned it to three girls at work, who all read it nearly as fast as I did.
If you have a family full of women, it's an even better read. :) It has been a couple of years since I've read it, but it is one worth keeping and reading again...once the others on my 'to-do' list have been read. Have fun if y...more
If you have a family full of women, it's an even better read. :) It has been a couple of years since I've read it, but it is one worth keeping and reading again...once the others on my 'to-do' list have been read. Have fun if y...more
This book was very aptly titled. These ladies do lead crazy lives. Mostly I felt it was self-inflicted drama but a few times, they legitimately were true survivors. I like books with strong southern female characters. This book had that to be sure, but I just couldn't really connect with the characters with the exception of Violet,and as it turns out she was not as focused on as the other women.
I think what turned me off the most was the character of Dorothy. I think too much time was spent foc...more
I think what turned me off the most was the character of Dorothy. I think too much time was spent foc...more
This book covers three generations of Southern women from the 1930's to the early 1970's. When Miss Gussie is forced into a terrible situation, she finds that she must bury the evidence in the backyard or have terrible consequences befall her young family. From that point on, though, the family seems to suffer under a curse. Daughter Dorothy is difficult and is possibly paranoid, and has great grief for her mother's apparent preference for her younger sister Clancy Jane. Clancy Jane has her own...more
Great writing. At times I just had to chuckle out loud. I enjoyed the book Crazy Ladies and they were all really Crazy Ladies....starting with the mother, Miss Gussie and her daughters. The two daughters were opposites and continually at each other's throats. A good story and very entertaining. The characters were both loved and hated each character.My favorite books have well developed characters and this book does. Miss Gussie had her share of trouble.....and it started in the first chapter. T...more
I LOVE this book. One of the few books I have read over.. and over.. and over some more. I bought this book maybe in 2001 and simply fell in love with it. The story revolves around a few generations of women and the sad, scary, and funny stories of their lives. Mostly set in the south, but the story also travels to the west coast and more. For any woman who wants to read a feel-good story that draws you in from the get-go, this is it. :)
I'm partial to mother-daughter generational novels and so picked this up from the local library's paperback exchange bin.
Michael Lee West's 1990 novel Crazy Ladies spans 40 years and three generations of one Mississippi family, told through the voices of six women within the family structure. Complexities galore, definitely the stereotypical attitudes and manners that would have abounded in the 1930's to 1970's South.
Michael Lee West's 1990 novel Crazy Ladies spans 40 years and three generations of one Mississippi family, told through the voices of six women within the family structure. Complexities galore, definitely the stereotypical attitudes and manners that would have abounded in the 1930's to 1970's South.
The more I read Michael Lee West's books, the more I really like her as an author. She genuinely cares about the reader. And is consistent in giving readers a first rate tale. I first read her "Gone with a Handsomer Man" which I absolutely loved. And highly recommend. So I'm now reading her back catalog. Il ow it'll be a sad day when I finish everything.
MLW is now one of my authors I will always pre-order. She's that enjoyable.
MLW is now one of my authors I will always pre-order. She's that enjoyable.
Brilliant...set in the Deep South, I was captivated from the first page. When you read that a wife has gone on the run because she fears she murdered her husband by hitting him with some frozen spare ribs, you know you're in for a treat. An absolute delight, i was soon hunting for the sequal "Mad Girls in Love" That one didn't dissappoint either. My one reqreat is that Micheal Lee West doesn't write fast enough.
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This was such fun for a summer read! The story was so well put together with characters that were charming and sad at the same time. I don't often read this type of fiction, but I found this and it's sequel at our library sale and saved them for summer. I recommend this to women of any age, but those of us from the 1970's will find it especially fun! So now I am on to "Mad Girls in Love", the sequel. Can't wait!
This book was pretty interesting. The point of view skips around each chapter, between the women in a family spanning from the 1930s to the 1970s. Which is intriguing and frustrating because sometimes you really want to know what Violet is thinking when it's Bitsy's point of view, etc... But the history of the times laced throughout the story is really interesting. And all I can say is the title says it all - these are some crazy ladies, all for different reasons, but crazy none the less.
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Michael Lee West grew up on the Gulf Coast with a wild tribe of Southern cooks. She lives on a farm near Nashville with her family. Michael is the author of Crazy Ladies, Mad Girls in Love, She Flew the Coop, American Pie, Mad Girls in Love, Mermaids in the Basement, Consuming Passions, and Gone With a Handsomer Man. Her new novel, A Teeny Bit of Trouble, is the second installment in the Teeny Tem...more
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