Waltzing at the Piggly Wiggly

Piggly Wiggly #1

by Robert Dalby

With her favorite market, the Piggly Wiggly, on the verge of closing due to competition from the Mega-Mart across town, Laurie Lepanto launches a campaign to save the store, which has also served as a community center and town hall, enlisting the town's influential widows and eligible bachelor, widower, and dance instructor Powell Hampton in her scheme. A first novel.

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Romance, Humor, Southern, Contemporary, Mystery

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Robert Dalby is a native of Mississippi and a lifelong patron of the Piggly Wiggly. He lives in Oxford.

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars, a fun little read.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

I finally abandoned this book about halfway through when I was reminded of the topic of good, better, best. This book may fall into the "good" category, but I have so many other things I could be doing with my time. Forcing myself to read this just didn't seem worth it anymore. It drove me crazy how simple the writing was, and I thought the sexual references, while fairly benign, were completely unnecessary. I do not plan to read anything else by this author!

[Phyllis Barlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe I read this when it first came out, but this is before I was a Goodreads member so don't have a record of it. It's okay, I enjoyed it all over again.
I related to this book a lot because for one thing, I'm a Mississippi girl, and my daddy was a butcher...for Piggly Wiggly. We moved to a lot of small Mississippi towns because he was sent to train other butchers. We lived in Louisville, West Point, Philadelphia and Union; all of which could have been Second Creek.
I loved that the ladies from the Nitwits were so willing to help Mr. Choppy save his Piggly Wiggly that was in danger of closing.
If you like books about small town Southern life and friendship, you will definitely enjoy this one.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't laughed at a book in a minute. It is a great light story about love and resilience later in life. It is also about being who you are meant to be even if you do it later on in life.

[Ann Bergeron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming tale of life in a small Southern town, filled with all the quirks and eccentric characters you would expect!

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read and I highly recommend reading this .

[Lilian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was hoping this would be a light, funny read, but it turned out so cliched and boring. It seemed so lazy even to use adjectives like "sunny" and "perky" for waitresses, and flight attendants "leggy."

I'm really wary now of stories that seem to be mostly dialogue or conversations between the characters, as this book was. It's as if the writer cannot find an omniscient voice or a third-person storyteller, so rather than going to the "trouble" of describing characters or places, he just has his characters "talk" amongst themselves.

I also got the sense the Nitwitts was trying and wants to be as famous as the other Southern cliques like the Steel Magnolias and the Ya-Yas. It just doesn't cut it for me. I haven't been to the Southern US myself, but I believe Fannie Flagg's novels give a better representation.

I don't understand either why the author would bring in all these secondary characters and tell their life stories but it doesn't really add anything to the entire story. I know this technique because Carl Hiaasen employs it a lot in his novels, but he does it so well that it's amusing. In this story, it really seemed so contrived.

What I really don't get is why I finished the entire book of 300+ pages! I guess just to see how the story ends, and to justify why I really did not like this book, haha. Good thing it didn't cost much, either, only Php10 or about a quarter US.

Looking up the other books by this author, I'm quite perturbed this has turned into a Piggly-Wiggly series, hahaha. Even if I see another book at the secondhand bookshop, I won't even bother picking it up.

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how this story shows several older active men and women who are making changes in their lives and progressing. The moral of the story that life isn't over after you are 70 is great. There are still often many great years to come in this modern age.

My 98 year old grandmother in Vienna is still actively participating in her community. She writes for a newspaper, speaks at conventions, and much more. This wouldn't be possible unless people took interest in her and I doubt that it would happen in the states. In America, retirees are neglected in film, books, and are generally overlooked in society.

It is easy for the elderly to feel useless or feel that their life is over. Depression in the elderly is so common in Americans, that we assume that if an older person seems uninterested in life that it is just because they are old. It is sick.

I think this is definitely a story that America needs. Bravo!! Thank goodness for someone who tries to get out of the mold. I hope I can read more books like it, especially as I grow older. We should all read more books outside the overly schmaltzy unrealistic love stories about teenagers or 20 somethings.

P.S. There's some sex, but it reads like off color jokes more than huge sex scenes. Definitely more appropriate for a mature audience.

[Book Concierge · Rating 1 out of 5]

When the Nitwitts (a club for wealthy widows in Second Creek MS) learns that the local Piggly Wiggly will be closing its doors they spring into action to save the local business. Club President Laurie Lepanto asks a charming widower who used to run a dance studio to help. Powell Hampton agrees and a promotional campaign is begun: for two hours each day, the “eligible silver fox” will dance with the ladies while store employees do their shopping for them.

I’ve had this on my tbr for a while. It sounded fun and charming, and it satisfied a challenge. But the reality is that it is poorly written, staid and a chore to get through. I didn’t care about any of the characters. The town is only a cardboard cutout. The women were downright ridiculous. The plot goes nowhere fast and then sits there. The big “secret” isn’t much of one and is tied up far too neatly. In what I can only assume is an effort to make this a romantic story, every once in a while the author throws in a little sex scene. His attempts at humor – the Miss Dixie Floozy contest? Really? – are anything but. Oh, well, at least it was a fast read.

Dalby apparently has fans, however, because there are multiple books in this series. I won’t be wasting time on any of them.

[Rebecca McPhedran · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quaint story about a group of loyal Piggly Wiggly shoppers who come up with a crazy plan to save their beloved grocery store. Laurie and Powell come up with the idea to have the ladies of Second Creek come into the Piggly Wiggly to dance while the employees fill their grocery orders. I thought it had a cute premise, but I think it was written more for an older audience (probably my grandparents). It was a cute story, but not the best I've ever read.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, but this seemed a LONG listen. Took me a while to get into the story. I preferred Mr Choppy's mysterious past storyline more so than the save the Piggly Wiggly story line. Some of the NitWits had some clever lines. Parts were well written. But glad to finish it. The dance lasted a bit too long.

[TeresaFL · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've ever lived in a small town in the south, then this book is for you. As I read it I kept finding people I've grown up with all my life. A fun, easy read. I highly recommend it if you want to relax and enjoy some time with interesting characters.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read about a third of this and while it featured everything I usually like (quirky characters in a small town and hint of humor), I just couldn't get into it. Wasn't worth the time to keep going.

[Nd · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 stars for depth but 4 for fun. This silly, goofy, funny, and sweet first novel gave some chuckles and a few surprises, believe it or not. In the seemingly medicocre little Mississippi community of Second Creek, a Mega Mart had come to town. A number of the smaller, local shops that made Second Creek a close community had emptied, either closed down or moved to the new area. When it looked as if Piggly Wiggly was about to be next, owner and second-generation proprietor Mr. Choppy mentioned the impending doom to long-time customer Laurie Lepanto. Laurie quickly came up with a plan and enlisted retired ballroom dancer and dance instructor Powell Hampton as well as her club of wealthy widows, who called themselves The Nitwitts, in the scheme to bring former loyal customers back to Piggly Wiggly to shop.

What seemed a silly solution to a familiar situation actually turned into a, still goofy, but nice plot and subplot. Second Creek was somewhat known by tourists. Contrary to appearances, it was thought to be a fun town inhabited by disarmingly quirky citizens. A few townies even whispered that some of its more memorable events were caused by odd weather episodes. The mayor had run on unkept promises, and was he secretly in league with Mega Mart? How Mr. Choppy came to be missing part of his fingers was a mystery that was part of town lore. Laurie had led and been mediator of the Nitwitts for quite a number of years, since her husband died, and she led this charge seamlessly as life moved forward and began to change for everyone.

[Phyllis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was "OK." I would still recommend it as a light, easy read for those who are looking for something like this. It was a first novel written by a man, which was surprising since it read like chick lit. I expected some twists and turns in the plot, but it turned out to be predictable. What I liked about it: takes place in a small southern town, has a catchy title and an appealing premise, quirky characters and humor. Yes it's corny and a bit trite, but I'm not sorry I read it. Now I'm ready for something completely different!

[Roni Jennings · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delightful story about a group of widowed women in Mississippi who agree to try a 'scheme' to save the faltering Piggly Wiggly in their small town. The very eligible former dance instructor (widower) agrees to dance with women in the aisles of the grocery while store workers fill their shopping orders. Secrets and skeletons are revealed, lives transformed, habits changed, dreams realized. Fun story.

[Diane Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a real light-hearted, fun read. It was a pleasure to have something unique and different, rather than the typical who-dun-it to you, who-dun-it to me, who's gonna do it, and all the dead that were left behind from all those ugly people doing it to someone. Granted it was on the silly side, but I think that was the fun of it all.

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not at all what I was expecting BUT so very wonderful. 😊 It was funny😂, sad😢, steamy😏, and unpredictable😦. So many GREAT characters and some not so great 😐 but each was unique. I am immediately reading the second book even though I have a bunch of books due at the library before it. 😉 (it's just one of those kinds of books)😊

[Sydney Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a cute story, but poorly written. It felt like lazy writing the entire time. The characters were poorly developed, yet it almost read like the author felt he’d done well in creating dimension for the character. It was all far too superficial to be compelling. I had to struggle to finish reading. I did want to enjoy it, since the story is so sweet, but the writing fell short.

[Plum-crazy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second Creek is a wonderfully quirky place (their annual Miss Delta Floozie contest is a hoot, even though you can see the outcome of the "finale" coming a mile off!) with characters who are eccentric & likeable... & I just love the name "The Piggly Wiggly" :o)

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this 5 stars. Listening to this audio book was light and delightful. Reading it might not have been so fun, but it kept me thoroughly entertained in my car. The characters and the entire plot were a bit silly and unrealistic but I loved visualizing and pretending there was such a place.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so disappointed in this book. I found the characters very one-dimensional, the storyline rather lame, and the ending ridiculous.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I laughed through and enjoyed Part One, didn't like Part Two.

[Jonille Shepherd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great title, very chatty, couldn't hold my attention.

[Marti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and silly story. I like small towns, always.

[Carolyn Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the descriptive writing and the development of quirky characters, however the plot moved a bit slowly for my taste.

[Michele E · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic book. I loved every page of it!

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 2 out of 5]

C-. fiction, contemporary fiction, Southern

[Michelle M · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a fun, small town with lively characters. It's a bit predictable and quite enjoyable.

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute enough to finish ... just.