false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171048205m/84022.jpg 84022 16 With home-cooked, Southern literary flair, Fannie Flagg (<I>Fried Green Tomatoes</I>) returns with <I>Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!</I> "Baby Girl," as she is lovingly referred to by her sweet, country cousins, is Dena Nordstrom, a tall, blonde, corn-fed girl who makes it big in Manhattan. Ms. Nordstrom is now the top TV anchorwoman in the city, beating out veteran journalists and making ungodly amounts of money. Although her life seems charmed, Dena is frazzled and miserable. She drinks uncontrollably, is a borderline compulsive liar, and is forced to undergo therapy because of her stress-induced ulcer. Her psychiatrist, Dr. O'Malley, falls madly in love with her, of course, and sends the blonde bombshell to a close colleague, Dr. Diggers. Living up to her name, Diggers shovels up a mountain of dysfunction and forces Dena to face her mysterious past; all the while the good doctor reports back to brokenhearted O'Malley about her patient's progress. Meanwhile, back at the station, Ms. Nordstrom has made friends and enemies in very high places. Her greatest ally is Howard Kingsley, the Cronkitesque reporter who wields power with more ease than most seasoned politicos: "He closed the door and handed the driver a ten-dollar bill. 'Take this young lady where she wants to go for me, will you? And be careful, she's valuable property.'" It's a good thing she has friends like that, because her boss, Ira Wallace, makes George Costanza from <I>Seinfeld</I> look like a scrupulous saint. When Wallace hires a nasty but effective mole by the name of Sidney Capello to dig up garbage on celebrities, Nordstrom has a head-on collision with his sense of ethics (or lack thereof) and gets Capello canned. Or so she thinks. <I>Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!</I> is very much like its star, Dena Nordstrom: pretty, scattered, confused, and sometimes interesting. It's a long ride from the Whistle Stop Cafe, and readers who enjoy Jan Karon's Mitford Fall series will most likely be the biggest fans of Flagg's third novel. 822074 1998 Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle) total:2905|5:544|4:1054|3:1020|2:244|1:43| 2905 10527 3514 276 3 2 false true Wed Jan 28 11:46:31 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 28 12:01:13 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 24 11:23:41 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 24 11:52:25 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 1998 Wed May 30 11:31:51 -0700 2007 Wed May 30 11:36:00 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2000 Tue Aug 04 17:16:26 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 11 04:35:33 -0700 2009
This remains the only book of hers that I've read and it's really excellent. It m...more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Apr 02 07:03:48 -0700 2007 Mon Apr 02 07:03:57 -0700 2007 4 1 false false Thu Feb 09 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Apr 01 06:25:07 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 01 06:28:00 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Sat Feb 28 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 02 14:49:51 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 02 15:10:16 -0800 2009 more...]]> 1 0 false false Sun Jun 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue May 26 09:04:04 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 30 09:28:25 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 30 14:11:31 -0700 2009 Sun May 10 03:00:23 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 true false Sun Nov 30 17:05:22 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 06 21:49:56 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 30 17:05:22 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Dec 07 23:05:06 -0800 2008 Wed Aug 12 21:38:44 -0700 2009
This was enjoyable enough. My favorite parts featured the extended family living in Elmwood Springs,...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 21 07:41:33 -0700 2008 Sat Nov 01 06:32:31 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Aug 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 04 14:13:48 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 13 17:32:49 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jun 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 22 19:33:43 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 19:37:20 -0700 2009 Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! much more than Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Fannie Flagg's writing style flows so well that it really is like walking into the middle of a conversation to read her work. I would have finished this book faster, but I only read it during s...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Sep 19 09:50:18 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 19 11:12:23 -0700 2007 Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistestop Cafe, and I have to say that I prefer Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!. (However, I do love the FGT movie so, so much.) This book takes a look at a girl who was ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Nov 23 19:25:39 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 23 19:40:33 -0800 2008 Once more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Nov 07 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 05 16:56:08 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 14 10:38:53 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jun 30 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Apr 13 17:40:26 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 17:41:21 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jan 30 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 10 18:42:35 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 10 18:44:46 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Nov 11 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 02 14:22:09 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 02 14:24:30 -0800 2008 2 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=84022