Good news! Fannie’s back in town--and the town is among the leading characters in her new novel.

Along with Neighbor Dorothy, the lady with the smile in her voice, whose daily radio broadcasts keep us delightfully informed on all the local news, we also meet Bobby, her ten-year-old son, destined to live a thousand lives, most of them in his imagination; Norma and Macky Warren and their ninety-eight-year-old Aunt Elner; the oddly sexy and charismatic Hamm Sparks, who starts off in life as a tractor salesman and ends up selling himself to the whole state and almost the entire country; and the two women who love him as differently as night and day. Then there is Tot Whooten, the beautician whose luck is as bad as her hairdressing skills; Beatrice Woods, the Little Blind Songbird; Cecil Figgs, the Funeral King; and the fabulous Minnie Oatman, lead vocalist of the Oatman Family Gospel Singers.

The time is 1946 until the present. The town is Elmwood Springs, Missouri, right in the middle of the country, in the midst of the mostly joyous transition from war to peace, aiming toward a dizzyingly bright future.

Once again, Fannie Flagg gives us a story of richly human characters, the saving graces of the once-maligned middle classes and small-town life, and the daily contest between laughter and tears. Fannie truly writes from the heartland, and her storytelling is, to quote Time, "utterly irresistible."


From the Hardcover edition.

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Standing in the Rainbow tells the story of the lives of the citizens of Elmwood Springs, Missouri, spanning through five decades beginning in the 40s. We have Dorothy Smith, hostess of the radio program, The Neighbor Dorothy Show that is transmitted live from her own living room. And Tot Whooten, the town hair stylist, who seems to be a walking, talking advertisement for bad luck. Also in town are the Goodnight sisters; Ida Jenkins, a wanna-be socialite; the Oatman Family Gospel Singers; Hamm Sparks, a very ambitious salesman; and Doc Smith, the local pharmacist. This novel has them all and more -- every character under the sun, a perfect blend of a neighborhood.

I wasn't even born during most of the time frame this novel takes place in, but Fannie Flagg sure makes me wish I had been! A highly atmospheric story that evokes feelings of nostalgia and longing for the good ole days. The characters are unforgettable, Elmwood Springs is the perfect town, and after reading this book, you will feel as if you've lived there your entire life.

Not much by the way of plot, however. Standing in the Rainbow is more of a slice-of-life novel, a darn good story about the lives of people in a small town and the events that take place throughout the years. Engrossing, funny, sweet, wistful and warmhearted, all Fannie Flagg fans will delight in this novel, and new fans will discover a treasure of an author within these pages.

37 of 38 found the following review helpful:

A wonderful study, in beautiful colors, of smalltown AmericaAug 12, 2002

Fans of Fannie Flagg's earlier novels will love this new one, and I predict she'll pick up a whole lot of new fans, too. This book is just wonderful: an unforgettable and yet comfortable voice tells us everything we need to know about everyone in town, yet never tells one thing more than we need to know.

The true subtlety of Miss Flagg's work lies not in the richly softspoken sentences, the dead-on dialogue, the gentle humor and tart observation that are her comic hallmarks. It's what she leaves out of the story, the parts she knows not to tell.

I happen to think Fannie Flagg is the most underrated American author, except by her readers, who love her. She's the finest comic voice working in fiction today, and when things take a serious turn -- as they do in this sweet, lovely, summery novel -- she can flat break your heart.

27 of 28 found the following review helpful:

Heartwarming, Witty, and Captivating.....Sep 18, 2002
By Roz Levine
The year, 1946; the place, Elmwood Springs, Missouri. Life is good and filled with unlimited opportunities and promise, the future never seemed brighter, and spirits are lifted daily, by the "lady with the smile in her voice," radio homemaker, Neighbor Dorothy Smith, as she passes along recipes, friendly advice, local news, and a little entertainment, each morning, from her living room on station WDOT. Meet the Smith family, their friends, neighbors, and acquaintances, and revel in the joys of small town life, as Fannie Flagg takes the reader on an amazing fifty year odyssey, rich in insight, wisdom, humor, and truth. This is storytelling at its very best, filled with interesting twists and surprises, vivid scenes, engaging writing, and clever dialogue. But it's Ms Flagg's brilliant characterizations that make this book stand out and sparkle. These are complex and endearing, real people, warts and all, not cliched, cartoon characters, and Ms Flagg is able to breathe life into each and every one of them. Standing In The Rainbow is an intriguing and captivating story, sometimes poignant, often uplifting, but always touching and heartwarming; a story that captures the imagination as it pulls you in, and introduces a whole new generation to the simple wonders of living in a small town. You'll laugh, you'll cry, but mostly you'll remember what it was like to walk with your family down a decorated Main Street at Christmas to buy your tree at the town lot for $1.50, sit on a stool and have a sundae at the drug store soda fountain, watch a whole afternoon of movies, every Saturday, for a nickle, and listen to the voice of a friendly "neighbor" each day on the radio. And there was never a doubt that "something wonderful was always just about to happen..."

23 of 25 found the following review helpful:

charming and kindhearted, yet more meringue than fillingNov 11, 2002
By Bruce J. Wasser
Fannie Flagg holds an important place in our national heart. Blessed with a down-home ability to tell stories and possessing a warmhearted view of the human condition, Flagg, at her best, combines humor and pathos to construct novels which educate us through laughter and tears. Her most recent effort, "Standing in the Rainbow," is a likable, kind and compassionate work, but it lacks both the power and integrity of her best work, "Fried Green Tomoatoes." Ultimately, reading "Rainbow" is much like trying to eat a five-pound box of chocolates. What begins as a treat ends as a sugar-saturated burden.

"Rainbow" is actually contains three distinct narratives, any one of which would have been subject material enough to carry the novel. By chopping her novel into these distinct segments, Flagg diminishes the impact of the whole. The best of the three is the fist two hundred pages; in it, we are transported back in time to the post World War II era. Young Bobby Smith, whose mother Dorothy serves as the modest voice of midwestern maternal sensibility on her morning radio show, explores life with a zest and innocence. His beautifully drawn character shines, and Flagg expertly creates a mid-century everychild whose hopes, frustrations and energy mirror the ebullient optimism of the period.

Unforunately, when Bobby disappears from the novel, he is replaced by Hamm Sparks, an aspiring politican who is part Huey Long and Bill Clinton. The middle section of "Rainbow" sadly reads as a dumbed-down "All the King's Men." Since the scope of "Rainbow" is a half-century, Flagg spends the final hundred pages whirling the reader through the last three decades of the twentieth century. Although historical compression tidily moves the plot to its conclusion, the author unintentionally flattens the characters to whom she has so diligently given dimension the first two-thirds of her work.

Fannie Flagg can create memorable characters, and "Rainbow" has its store of them. Yet, unlike "Fried Green Tomatoes," where her characters stood for something and faced challenges with humor, grace and strength, the men, women and children who populate Elmwood Springs, Missouri are never permitted the luxury to grow. Instead, their appearances are episodic (just as is the novel), and lacking the time to develop, they eventually become predictable, even bordering on stereotypical.

This is not to say that "Standing in the Rainbow" should not be read. Fannie Flagg is a national treasure, and some of her msot recent vignettes are absolute gems. My disappointment stems from admiration; she is capable of far more emotional depth and character development than her most recent effort. "Rainbow" reminds us of that the author is capable of much, much more.

28 of 32 found the following review helpful:

Flagg Delivers A Masterpiece on Small Town AmericaSep 03, 2002
By Antoinette Klein
Fannie Flagg creates the warm, wholesome characters she is famous for and plops them down in the center of the US-- Elmwood Springs, Missouri, to be exact--- for a nostalgic look back at what life was like in the 1940s and into the 90's.

If you are a baby-boomer and remember The Arthur Godfrey Show, the Ink Spots, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Wildroot Cream oil, wearing a shiny dime in your penny loafers and more, you'll fall in love with Flagg's charming characters who populate this small town.

At the heart of the story is the family of Neighbor Dorothy, the homemaker cum radio personality we first met in WELCOME TO THE WORLD, BABY GIRL. This book more fully explores Neighbor Dorothy's family life as well as the people she connects with and the influence she wields throughout the state. The reader sees the world through the eyes of her son Bobby who longs for no greater honor than to become the Bubble Gum King of 1949 yet grows into a remarkable war hero and family man. Along with her daughter Anna Lee, her husband Doc who is the town pharmacist, and her mother-in-law we see a picture of a family that is not only idyllic but realistic in their affections, problems, and experiences.

Delightful in all respects, this book takes you through the Korean War, the anti-war movement of the 60's, the political travails of country bumpkins who long for the national stage, the liberation of women, and other important factual events that colored the lives of the American people. Real people mix with fictional in a story that is engrossing, satisfying, and hard to leave behind. You'll treasure your time with Neighbor Dorothy from her first broadcast to her final sign-off and be glad to be a part of the lives of people who remember buying a Christmas dress for $1.50, being mesmerized by the department store window at Christmas, and thrilling to the sight of a new neon sign lighting up the main street.

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