Mama Makes Up Her Mind: And Other Dangers of Southern Living

by Bailey White

Paperback, 2009

Collection

Description

Biography & Autobiography. Essays. Nonfiction. Humor (Nonfiction.) HTML:Welcome to the unique world of Bailey White. Her aunt Belle may take you to see her bellowing pet alligator. Her uncle Jimbuddy may appall you with his knack for losing pieces of himself. Most of all, you may succumb utterly to the charms of Bailey�??s mama, who will take you to a juke joint so raunchy it scared Ernest Hemingway or tuck you into her antique guest bed that has the disconcerting habit of folding up on people while they sleep. White�??s indelible vignettes of Southern eccentricity have entranced millions who have heard her read them on NPR. Mama Makes Up Her Mind is as sweetly intoxicating as a mint julep and as invigorating as a walk in White�??s own overgrown gar… (more)

Rating

½ (193 ratings; 3.8)

Awards

Georgia Top 25 Reading List (2005)

User reviews

LibraryThing member marysargent

Short pieces. Wonderful. Hard to believe such people exist. I read them slowly to make them last.

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LibraryThing member Sengels

Charming picture of the oddities of Southern life. Often laugh-out-loud funny. You'll drive people on the train nuts!

LibraryThing member cjaksa

Great Vingettes of life and people with the unique twist of southern flavor

LibraryThing member dele2451

A first grade teacher shares humorous stories about her family's life in rural Georgia and N Florida. If you've ever lived or spent time in the region, you're sure to get some chuckles reading about the eccentricities of Bailey's beloved Mama and other assorted relatives/neighbors. In addition to

funny and touching ancedotes about life in The Deep South, the author provides lovely, detailed descriptions of the region's flora and fauna -- a nice benefit to gardeners, naturalists, and transplanted Georgians who may be feeling a little homesick.

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LibraryThing member theresearcher

This is a lovely collection! I was particularly pleased to find that she discusses Egg and Butter Road, which I have driven while visiting my grandparents in south Georgia. It's hysterical and sweet, and dele2451 is absolutely right about this book curing what ails the homesick transplanted

Georgian: it helped me through a Chicago winter and a flight to England!

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LibraryThing member JenneB

Absolutely one of the funniest books I have ever read.

LibraryThing member phredfrancis

I enjoyed this much more than I expected I would. I had heard some of Bailey White's pieces on NPR, so her distinctive voice was familiar to me. I think having her pace and tone in mind while reading her short, autobiographical essays is ideal, but the stories are strong on their own. Individually,

they occasionally seem like mere slices of life, but the cumulative effect creates an image of White's slightly askew, endlessly interesting, and deeply Southern life and family. And as an added bonus, despite my initial expectation that this book might seem, for lack of a better word, somewhat "grandmotherly," White sometimes seems gently radical in her opinions and behavior. She does not intend to shock, but she does intend to live life as she sees fit.

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LibraryThing member mahallett

The first part of the book is about her mother whose house is filthy. I amidst stopped reading. Her mom is bizarre not cute not interesting. Once we got by her the stories were good.

LibraryThing member mykl-s

Its connected stories are very southern, which means southeastern US fiction, with characters and incidents which are both very interesting, but also hard for me to understand.

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