Can't Wait to Get to Heaven

Can't Wait to Get to Heaven
By Fannie Flagg

Do you remember Fannie Flagg? Mark remembers her from "Candid Camera" in the late '60s. I remember her from "Match Game" in the late '70s. I was completely surprised to find out that she is a writer. And that she wrote "Fried Green Tomatoes" (which I read on the cruise). So when I was wandering through the library I made sure to pick up a Fannie Flagg book.

Great Book!! Ms. Flagg does such an excellent job of telling the story of old southern ladies!. And my favorite part - the protagonist's name is Elner Shimfissle. Elner is a woman. She doesn't really know how old she is, because her younger sister abscounded with the family Bible where her birthday was recorded and Elner just doesn't know what year she was born!


Elner dies at the beginning of the book and goes to heaven. All of her friends are devastated. Elner is such a force for good in her town. The story is told in a wonderfully light manner--you get to see the stories of all the people around Elner--her niece and nephew, her neighbors in town and out in the country, the Sunset Club (who gather on Elner's front porch every evening to watch the sunset). I truly love books that have lots of characters and lots of good development.

The one thing that really bothered me were the scenes in Heaven where Elner meets "her Maker". Ms. Flagg has a decidedly Unitarian view point--God, Buddah, Mohammed--it doesn't matter. All roads lead to heaven and god. That particular world view really annoys me. But other than that I think this was a great book and really worth the read.