Helpful Score: 4
This southern fiction is really a funny read. By page 9 i was laughing out loud and continued to laugh out loud to the end. I loved Miss Mattie. This is a book to make you smile, was well worth the time it took to read it.
Helpful Score: 4
A funny, heartwarming story about Mattie, a 78 year old Southern Baptist lady in North Carolina, and how she opens her life to a teenaged delinquent boy. My family is from the south and these characters seemed so familiar to me, I feel like they must be related somehow. The dialog and colloquialisms ring true, as do the people themselves. Mattie urges every visitor to her house to sit down and eat something, whether they be neighbor, family or dogcatcher. The author really makes you feel like you are standing right in Mattie's kitchen with her as she goes through the day. I loved Mattie and this book. I used to know so many gracious, old-fashioned southern women like Mattie (most I was related to), but ladies like her are rare nowadays. It was such a treat to spend time with one. And this is a laugh-out-loud funny story.
Helpful Score: 3
For those of us in the South, Miss Mattie might be the elderly lady next door. Seventy eight, and still mowing her own grass and picking butter beans. She's known as one of the best cooks in little Listre, NC. But now, her children are worried that she's getting a bit too old and odd to be living on her own. And almost as if to prove their point, she decides to step into the life of a local juvenile delinquent (Wesley) to help him change his ways. Some might say she's living out her faith. Some might say she's just getting strange in her old age. Either way, Mattie is determined for things to change, much to the surprise of the neighbors and her family!
Highly recommended, a wonderful slice of living in the small-town South.
Highly recommended, a wonderful slice of living in the small-town South.
Helpful Score: 1
I don't know when I have laughed out loud so much when reading a book! It probably helps that I was born and raised in the South, but I could sooo relate to these characters. Loved it!
Helpful Score: 1
Lighthearted, with Christian flavor, yet dosed with some reality. A great read!
Helpful Score: 1
A Light, Easy Read
Helpful Score: 1
Read this because of the movie, and I loved it.
Funny. It's the story of a 78 yr. old hard-headed woman, a stray dog, a teenage delinquent, and the bond they form. (and the best home cooking in Listre, North Carolina.
Helpful Score: 1
Classic southern fiction.
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent Book, I even went out and bought the movie!!
Helpful Score: 1
Very heartwarming!
Helpful Score: 1
The story of a spunky woman, a stray dog, a teenage deliquent, and the best home cooking in Listre, North Carolina!
Helpful Score: 1
"A beautiful story of determination,made more poignant by a Southern small-town setting." Library Journal
Helpful Score: 1
At first I wasn't liking this book very much, but then as Mattie and her clan and neighbors gathered round the dinner table, all I could think of was Stephanie Plum's family at Friday night dinner. Mattie was a Grandma Mazur without the Glock in her purse, the poodle-permed hair, over-active sex-drive. She's a Grandma Mazur with a Southern accent and a whole lot more common sense. While Grandma does funeral homes, Mattie visits prisoners. And this story is about how she feeds everyone, and takes in a 16 year old prisoner and begins to rehab him through her pound cake, and demand for cleanliness and good manners. A quick, sweet read.
Funny, touching and thought-provoking. It may challenge the way you think about the choices we make and how it's never too late to reinvent your life story.
I'll confess I wasn't all that fond of Wesley, tough life though he had. Was worth the read for Mattie Rigsby though.
Such a funny, quirky book! Very light and enjoyable reading!
I realize that many people really like this book, but I did not. I found that I didn't really like any of the characters; an issue I rarely have. I did not find the book very funny either, just a reminder of what I don't like about the south.
I enjoyed this homey tale of a woman who takes people at face value, nurtures, trusts and shows the goodness of human nature.
Surprisingly entertaining and thought provoking. I hope I am as active as Mattie when I reach her age. I really enjoyed reading this book!
Great book. I thoughley enjoyed. Edgerton writes in a true southern style with lots of antidotes that makes you feel you "know" these people. I also have his sequel Killer Diller.
once I got into the book - I couldn't put it down!
Love, Love, love this book, classic Southern novel. Clyde's best book, his other stuff I could not get through. I fell in love with the characters. Crazy good.
A very "folksy" book about human interaction and an older woman who takes in a young man helping him to grow up and thrive. Quick reading and a bit enlightening for those of us who are not older as of yet! Humorous.
Walking Across Egypt is a delightful, funny, heart warming fast read. It reminded me of Lake Wobegone, and Fannie Flagg's books and fell into the southern literature genre I love so much. Definitely worth a quick read about a gutsy, independent 78 yr old woman and her adventures and family and friends.
A very enjoyable read. When you want something light & heartwarming. Quick & easy read.
This is a delightful book!! As someone who lives in the South I can relate to Mattie Rigsbee and all the characters in this book. I know people like this and probably am a little that way myself!! An easy, quick read that will have you wanting to just sit back with a cup of coffee or a glass of sweet iced tea and enjoy every page.
An elderly lady uses God to guide her in helping a juvenile delinquent.
I give it 5 stars.
Excellent! One of my favorites. One of the only books I've laughed out loud reading; plus, it has such a redemption message. The characters are truly unique; and Mattie is someone you want to know personally by the end of the story.
Excellent! One of my favorites. One of the only books I've laughed out loud reading; plus, it has such a redemption message. The characters are truly unique; and Mattie is someone you want to know personally by the end of the story.
Gift Copy! This is an excellent story! Widowed 78 year old Mattie Rigby from the rural area of a Southern small town is an independent, strong minded woman. She meets a young, delinquent Wesley Benfield and takes him in.She is shocked to find out that Wesley has never been fishing or swimming so she teaches him how.When Wesley is taken from her home by the police, she finds the detention facility against the better advice of her pastor, family and friends and brings him home with her to stay. This is heartwarming story about an unwanted boy in the beginning and a loving but lonely old woman.
I loved this book. Edgerton is always worth a smile or two. This one especially. First introduced to me as a good book to read to a nursing home patient.
