I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg

I Still Dream About You Reviews

• 
  Stacy

  I have read every single book that Fannie Flagg has written. I've been a big fan ever since Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. When I discovered that I Still Dream About You came out last year without me knowing it, I wondered, "how come I didn't hear about this?" I promptly went to the library and checked it out. Well now I know. If you want a good book you can rely on when you have a hard time falling asleep, well, maybe this is the one for you. I found myself reading one paragraph maybe 10 or 11 times as I kept nodding off.
  
  I really tried to give this book a chance. But for the longest time, nothing really happened. Ms. Flagg spent too much time trying to sell the characters by making attempts to throw in plenty of quaint and quirky 'Southern-isms' that in turn never really came together like the rest of her books. It seems like she is forcing things whereas in her past books, things flowed naturally. Used to be that she would weave an awesome tale from the very start to the very end. If you're reading a good story, you forget reality--you find yourself lost inside the pages, wanting to know what happens next. You justify reasons to put off doing dishes or washing the laundry, just for a while, so you can keep reading! I never had to try so hard to get into one of her books as this one. In fact, I would say her books have steadily gone down hill. I'd rather wait longer for a GREAT story than to be fed regularly with mediocracy. In other words, I was sadly disappointed in this book.
• 
  Brian

  “But unfortunately, history always expects people, young or old, to have known better at the time.” (2.5 stars)
  
  “I Still Dream About You” is the second Fannie Flagg novel I have read. It is a quick read, filled with quirky characters who for the most part come across as real people. Flagg has populated this novel with the types of folks who just scream, “I should be in a story”.
  There are more than few chuckles in this text, and when a character (Ethel) rants about how Hollywood has stunk since that crap song “It’s Hard Out There for a Pimp” beat out Dolly Parton’s song “Travelin Thru” for a Best Song Oscar I was a little embarrassed that I have yelled the same thing as a fictional 80 something year old women from Alabama. (And that character is right by the way.)
  To be fair, the text has moments that are not that good. The ending of the novel is pure schlock, too tidy and cheap by half. That is made worse by the fact that what proceeds it for the most part is not. Also grating is a dead character who is deified by the novel’s protagonist to a point that is beyond irritating. This dead character (Hazel) saves the day from beyond the grave due to her foresight and eerie ability to predict possible future outcomes too many times for my liking. But what preceded these moments is so utterly charming I found myself forgiving this glaring flaw.
  The importance of manners and considering others, friendship regret, suicide and even a slight mystery serve up the plot of this tale. Easy reading, humor, a lot of warmth and southern charm help make up for the fact that when “I Still Dream About You” is bad, it’s bad.
  The text is comically touching, and it made me smile and acknowledge the small everyday things that make life pleasant. I can’t complain a lot about a book like that.
• 
  Carol

  3.5 stars. I have to admit, it took me half way through the book to really get into it, but once Maggie and Brenda found the skeleton in the attic, I was hooked. The most interesting aspect of the plot for me was when the research began on Edward/Edwina Crocker and their historic home Crestview, but my favorite character was Hazel; such an inspiration. Overall, a good book, but cannot compare to
  Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.
• 
  V. Briceland

  Subtle, this book ain't. Rather than let any mystery of character or plot accumulate throughout the book, Flagg stops the proceedings immediately to insert flashbacks that explain everything that happened in the previous chapter. In a novel that hinges on a girl-detective-style discovery of a literal skeleton in a closet, it's like reading a Nancy Drew mystery written for those with the shortest of short-term attention spans.
  
  As for the decades-old mystery at the center of I Still Dream About You—it's tangential, unfocused, and largely unintegrated with the rest of the story. Nobody solves it; it scarcely matters that they don't. Flagg's done better in the past.
  
  Still. Flagg's primary virtues as a writer are an abundance of effortless charm, and the ability to fashion stories around communities of nice, polite people with nice, polite intentions . . . and to make characters that could be homogenous seem quite real. As whisper-thin as the plot might be here, its cast is engaging. Flagg has an unparalleled ability to immerse readers into her fictional communities, and make them wish they resided within the pages of her gentle Southern comedies.
• 
  ☮Karen

  This was all right as far as a light read goes but not the best Fannie Flagg I have read, by any means. The audio was read by the author and she did a really good job. It was almost depressing in some parts and the separate story from the 1800s didn't seem relevant to me. I did much enjoy the ending, though.
• 
  Felicity

  This probably deserves a 2.5...it wasn't a bad book. But it's Fannie Flagg (I mean, how can you take anyone with such a name seriously?). So the book is one of those syrupy, feel-good (even if it is about suicide), panetheon to female friendship books that you expect Fannie Flagg to produce. And if you're writing a feel-good book about suicide, then you're left--as I was--with this slightly uncomfortable feeling that Flagg didn't really address the kind of serious issues that might drive someone to commit suicide. There's a certain amount of risk involved in writing a book that treats suicide in such a comical way.
  
  One difference from her other novels (as I recall) is that Flagg does take on some "big" issues in this book, acknowledging the mixed and difficult legacy of Birmingham's racist past. Yet, once again, it's somewhat disquieting that her white characters (at least) can only understand that past via its impact on them--how misunderstood they were. Flagg may be trying to disquiet, but it gets lost under her sugar-coated, feel-good story. What exactly is her purpose here? What is she trying to do? The distraction of a dead skeleton (literally) in the plot just sends the story off another tangent that seems to add little to the novel's overall resolution. It is possible that Flagg is trying to make a larger point with this novel about tolerance and understanding, but to do that, she needs to convince her readers to take her seriously.
• 
  Debbie Zapata

  I stopped by the library during my walk the other day. I donated three, bought two from the sale shelves, and borrowed this one. Which means that I am still up one. lol
  
  So what does an ex-beauty queen do when she turns sixty? Maggie Fortenberry was Miss Alabama many years ago, and is now a real estate agent. She is beautiful, classy, charming, etcetera etcetera. But is she happy? If not, why not? And what is the big plan she has up her sleeve? What weird and wonderful events will pop up while she is trying to carry out this plan?
  
  Great characters as always, and some hilarious situations for all of them to get through. At times it seemed that the story sort of rambled with no clear purpose other than Maggie trying to put her plan into practice, but soon enough everything begins to connect. By the end, I did not want to have to leave Birmingham!
  
  This is from the cover and will tell you a bit more:
  Maggie has heartbreaking secrets in her past, but through a strange turn of events she soon discovers, quite by accident, that everybody, it seems ~~ dead or alive ~~ has at least one little secret.
  I Still Dream About You is a wonderful novel that is equal parts southern charm, murder mystery, and that perfect combination of comedy and old-fashioned wisdom that can be served up only by America's own remarkable Fannie Flagg.
  
  I'm planning another walk tomorrow. I'll bet dollars to donuts I come home with another Flagg in my backpack!
• 
  Lavonne

  Where, where do I start with this book? I picked it up because I had loved the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" by the author. However, I never actually read the book and probably never will now. I absolutely hated this book, although it did make me feel like a teenager again. I swear I haven't rolled my eyes so much while listening to anyone since I was 15 or 16.
  
  I can rate this book on two levels:
  
  First, the story, or lack of one. If you have ever heard a trite, over-used saying, it was in this book. If you were lucky, the saying was just uttered once by a character or characters. More often, it was repeated again and again and again. It was such cliched dialog that I got to the point where I could tell you what the character was going to say before they said it. There was not one original sentence or thought in this book. Many of the chapters started out with the same exact wording and sentence structure, to the point that I kept thinking my i-pod was screwing up the tracks and playing them again. No, my ipod is fine, this lady just can't write. The story jumps around in time, which normally doesn't bother me. Here, though, there was no logic to it. The chapters would bounce from the 1890's to 1976, to 2008, to 1955, to 1934. Nothing much happened in the first half of the story. Then about 2/3 of the way through, the author tried to start a BIG mystery, when the two main characters literally found a skeleton in the attic. The "mystery" was so transparent that two or three pages later, there could only be one explanation. It was one of those books, that when you get to the end, you're still waiting for it to begin.
  
  Secondly, the narration: The author herself read the book. She has a sweet, Southern accent and seems like a lady you'd want to have tea with. At first, it was very charming. That quickly grew old, though, when you found you couldn't tell the difference between two characters having a conversation. The male, New York lawyers, a first generation Scottish immigrant, an Alabama policeman, they all sound like Scarlett O'Hara's maiden aunt. And oh, lord! The "oh, lords!" This complaint is actually about the writing, but this book is peppered with this phrase. If they had cut that one phrase out of the recording, it would have been only 4 cd's, instead of 9.
  
  In conclusion, I think I need a new shelf. "Audio Books I finished because I spent so much frickin' time loading them to my ipod". Are we allowed to have that many characters? Oh, lord, I hope so.
• 
  Tonya

  I couldn't read this fantastic book fast enough. Our main character Maggie feels as if there is nothing more in this life for her, so she has planned her own death. She gives away her clothes, closes her bank account; has basically everything all planned out. But one thing after another keeps happening so she has to delay her death.
  
  All the characters are just fabulous and so full of life you can't help but chuckle outloud throughout the book! I really wanted to get more in depth in what happened between Maggie and Charles though but it never did. That didn't take away from the book though. Brenda is a real hoot - her and her ice cream and sweets.. too funny! Ethel, her purple hair and all, what an image in my mind! I sure did love all the memories of Hazel though!
  
  Fannie's books always have women in such a wonderful bold scene -- very awesome to read!
  
  Every time Maggie gets ready to go down to the river and then something happens to delay her, I think God is speaking to her. What made this book even better is the bit of mystery about what they find in the trunk in the attic at Crestview! Nothing like a good little mystery hidden deep in a wonderful book like this!
  
  Perfect book to read this holiday season all warm and toasty inside -- Enjoy! Fannie Flagg is worth the wait!
• 
  Mary Ronan Drew

  How did I manage to miss out on the entire Fannie Flagg thing? I’ve heard of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Café, but somehow I didn’t get around to reading it. I might never have discovered the delightful Fannie Flagg if my belle-soeur hadn’t sent me a copy of this book, I Still Dream About You.
  
  There were a dozen things I liked about this novel, the most important being the two real estate agents who are best friends and work together as a team, Maggie and Brenda. They work at an agency that has been going perilously downhill since the death of the owner, the irrepressible little Hazel. A rival agent, Babs Bingington, “The Beast of Birmingham,” an unethical realtor and a thoroughly dislikeable person, has been stealing their clients. Babs hires a young couple to front as the “buyers” of properties which are really being bought by developers (from whom Babs takes kickbacks.) The developers tear down the houses and build McMansions or apartment houses, destroying the fabric of neighborhoods.
  
  Don’t you love having a bad guy to boo and hiss?
  
  Maggie, an ex-Miss Alabama who missed out on being Miss America because of an unfortunate development at the Miss America Pageant, has never married and is dragging along from day to day with no hope for change in her future. So she decides to kill herself. She has worked this all out in detail, involving a plastic raft and ankle and wrist exercise weights. (She really needs to see a psychiatrist.)
  
  Maggie pays off all her bills, cancels her credit cards, has her phone service cancelled, gives her good clothes to a little theater that can use them for costumes, and leaves a To Whom It May Concern letter explaining what she has done. She then calls a taxi (using the name Mrs Tab Hunter – she always thought he was a wonderful actor) and heads for the river.
  
  Her friend Brenda is vivid and thoroughly likeable. She has, in her day, been colored, Negro, black, and African-American and she no longer cares what people call her except that she wants to be called Mrs Mayor. She plans to run for mayor of Birmingham and she has the network from her real estate work to get her started in politics. Brenda’s major problem is a sister who is a nurse and who is trying to put her on and keep her on a diet. She joins Overeaters Anonymous and gets a former police officer for her mentor: “Brenda, put down the doughnut and step away from the counter.”
  
  Anyhow, complications arise and people from Maggie’s past drift into her life and she has to put her plans on hold for a time (and of course she has to buy some clothes, get the phone re-connected, and retrieve the suicide note.) Birmingham’s most beautiful estate on top of a hill, overlooking the city, has come on the market and Maggie wants desperately to save it from Babs and the developers. But what is she to do? Meanwhile, there’s an incident with mint chocolate chip ice cream that makes Brenda depressed and needing to take advantage of a Kate Spade sale.
  
  Well, this is cozy-style non-mystery (though there is a mysterious dead body that needs accounting for) so we know things will turn out ok in the end. The reader can enjoy the suspense of Maggie’s repeated attempts to get in that raft on the river, the dread that the mansion on the hill will be torn down for a shopping mall, and the threat that Brenda’s health problems will escalate because we know that in the end the good will be rewarded, the bad will be punished, and the sun will set on beautiful Birmingham to the reader’s satisfaction.
  
  2011 No 40 Coming soon: Unknown Quantity by John Derbyshire
  
• 
  Morgan

  5+*
  A completely delightful, charming, heart felt story.
  This is my second Fannie Flagg book in a couple of days and they have filled me with sunshine and joy.
  Fannie Flagg has taken what could otherwise have been a bleak and dispiriting subject and made it charming and amusing.
  We find Real Estate Agent Maggie Fortenberry composing a letter “To Whom It May Concern” informing her friends, etc. that she is ‘going away for good’.
  Maggie is depressed. Real estate is on a downward slide. Things are definitely not looking up, so, what is she supposed to do?
  Ms. Flagg has so cleverly made one of her main characters, Hazel Whisenknott, original owner of Red Mountain Realty, a woman who has been dead for five years.
  There is more than one twist at the end to look forward to and some poignant and intelligent words of wisdom.
  Ms. Flagg certainly has a way with names, don’t you think??😉
  
• 
  Susan

  Fannie Flagg's charm has always been in her creation of communities where polite, optimistic and kind people are respected and successful. Take a few of those characters, throw in a neurotic friend, and then introduce a less friendly person to the mix, and you basically have the makings of a Fannie Flagg novel. This book is no different. In fact, it adheres to that formula so well that I can't entirely separate it from her previous books. Fortunately, I liked "Can't Wait to Get to Heaven" and "A Redbird Christmas," so the similarities weren't entirely unwelcome to me. I laughed at times, read fast, and then fell asleep with the satisfaction of good things happening to good people.
  
  But I never really loved this book the way that I loved Fannie Flagg's earliest books. First, the formula is a little tired by now; I didn't need to read this book to meet the same sort of characters, or have the same sort of "It's a Wonderful Life" conclusion. Second, the main character seems too unrealistic to be taken seriously, and too sad and confused to be taken lightly. Maggie feels that since the news on TV is too sad and there is a mean person rivaling her in real estate sales, suicide is the only answer. Perhaps Maggie's true provocation is the loneliness she feels at living in a model home with few personal effects, and having only one friend. I would get that reasoning, but Maggie never sees those as being her true problems, and Flagg's narrative is unable to bring forth the legitimate causes of depression, likely because keeping Maggie's reasoning silly makes the tone light enough not to drag the book down. (Additionally, the rationale's implausibility lends credence to Maggie's easy decisions to keep postponing her death day.)
  
  The narrative has some other lapses as well. The prologue to the story is merely confusing: does the age of Maggie's flame actually match the age of the boy from the prologue? And if it is the same boy, why doesn't he make a bigger reference to seeing her from afar when she was a young girl? Also, why do Maggie and Brenda remove the skeleton from its trunk instead of logically sending the whole trunk to storage?
  
  The last problem I'll dwell on is that the most interesting character of the book is either Hazel, who is years dead by the beginning of the story, or the skeleton in the attic, who is even more years dead. Even with multiple flashbacks dead characters cannot propel the story as effectively as living characters. It is certainly a problem when the deceased seem more alive and plot-propelling than the living main character.
  
  There are undoubtedly more issues you can take up with the book, but Fannie Flagg's good-hearted characters and themes make me feel guilty for even bringing them up. I wouldn't buy the book, but I can't regret the hours I spent with my library's copy.
• 
  dianne

  Carelessly fatuous. Completely predictable. Very bad baddies.
  And vacuously good goodies.
  
  An unbelievably simple woman is planning a tidy suicide. Why is she suicidal? She is exhausted by having to be pretty and nice. She is concerned about the major issues of the day like (horror of horrors) she only has tan nylons to wear with a black evening suit!
  
  “She had to think about her reputation; after all, she was an ex-Miss Alabama.”
  Yes, yes, of course! We all look to beauty pageant winners as paragons of virtue. WTF?
  
  She knew she was ready to exit this vale of tears; her actions had become so very unconscionable - recently, for instance:
  “...she had deliberately recommended the worst restaurant in Birmingham to that rude couple from Virginia…”
  
  In rationalizing (for everyone!) her oblivion:
  “When she was growing up teenagers had not been very political…..they just didn’t see it, or at least she hadn’t. But unfortunately, history always expects people, young or old, to have known better at the time.”
  Said like a Good German circa 1938.
  
  Take home messages from this silly tale include:
  Be Happy!
  Don’t worry so much about what other people think!
  And, (most teeth-gnashingly)
  Isn’t it great that racism and sexism are over?!
  
  This story, written by a white woman from Birmingham, Alabama - is based there; a city world renowned for its violent racism.
  The Black character (we are to suspend our disbelief here; so concentrate) recalls the “civil rights” protests of the past.
  The past?
  She even says “...with Obama being elected, black is the new white.”
  
  Oh. Ms. Flagg, I can’t believe i have to point this out: that is not the goal.
  
  I was reminded of an article in the Onion:
  “When I was in college, I marched against racism, and now there isn't racism anymore.”
  
  https://www.theonion.com/in-college-i...
  
  And now we all live happily ever after, just like George Floyd.
• 
  Kandice

  Please don't take three stars as a bad review. Fannie Flagg is a gifted storyteller and this is a lovely tale. The three stars are because everything is always so perfectly wrapped up in a bow with her books. Maybe not
  Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, but all the others I have read.
  
  Don't get me wrong, there are times I want a sweet story and a happy ending and I can always count on Fannie for that, but she isn't going to shake my world or drive me to tears (again, leave out
  Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe!) but I will be entertained and happy when I read the last page. Being able to count on an author for that is comforting.
• 
  Carrie

  Started it as a possible book club pick. 20 pgs in I'm a little annoyed by the writing, so it's a No. However, I'll keep reading.
  
  I think I really liked Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe! (Another Fannie Flagg novel).
  
  This should've been in my started but didn't want to finish pile. It was not good! The story starts with a sixty yr old woman writing her "suicide" note; she's merely going away in her mind, and the story is about her mistakes (boring, she was a previous Miss Alabama & one of her big regrets is that she's been too polite).
  
  The fact that her black friend pulls out a "I was in a relationship with a white Jewish married woman" at the end of the book (token Lesbian?), and ends up as the town mayor, the main character doesn't "go away" but reunites with her long lost love & goes from penniless to buying the town mansion in a minute, the dwarf friend (yes, there's a dwarf too) saves her from beyond the grave is all ridiculous.
  Also, about 3/4 of the way through the book which up to this point centers around the 60 yr old depressed realtor, a back story of Edward/Edwina a Scottish woman masquerading as a man for most of her life and the skeleton they find in a listing house. It didn't work.
  
  Unfortunately, I kept reading because I wanted to see if she was going to get on with her ankle weights in the river or not, and at times, I just wished she would.
• 
  Manon Bénabent

  J'ai vraiment adoré ce livre !!! seconde lecture de cette auteure. même si le résumé peut paraître gnangnan le livre n'en reste pas moins léger et une bulle de bonheur. Je n'ai pas vu passer la lecture. Les personnages sont tous attachant même Maggie qui s'avère être "rigolotte" dans sa démarche de suicide, de le repousser etc. C'est aussi l'idée de profiter de chaque petit chose qui peut nous rattacher à une pointe de bonheur et j'aime bien cette façon de voir les choses. Je vous le conseil. Bonne lecture à tous
• 
  Julie

  3.5 ⭐ = Quite Good
  
  Please persevere if you find this a little slow to start with. It was like this for me to be honest.
  It was a book that I never felt eager to pick up but then again , when I did, I smiled and became engrossed.
  Although it is not a difficult read, I feel it is not a book that you can pick up and put down.
  Each time, I needed to become immersed by reading a fair few chapters.
• 
  Anne (Booklady) Molinarolo

  Ahhhhh, Birmingham, Alabama, how I miss that city! I was excited to read what was advertised as a mystery by Fannie Flagg. But alas this book did not meet my expectations. While the descriptions of the Magic City were spot on and life in the Old South was true to what I remember, having lived there for ten years; I STILL DREAM OF YOU is not a mystery. Though there is a small mystery within the novel, the story is Maggie’s. And I found her to be whining and a bit boring.
  
  In the last days of the 2008 Presidential Election, Margaret Fortenberry has made the decision to leave. She has made a list of pros and con’s: 14 pro and only 2 cons to stay in this world. Maybe she saw too many movies. After all, the former Miss Alabama spent her formulation years living above the Dreamland Theatre. She hadn’t accomplished anything in her 60 years, had she? And she misses her great friend, Hazel “the biggest little Real Estate woman in the world.” She should have married Charles, but then it was Richard that she devoted her child bearing years. Oh the scandal of it, she had a long adulterous affair with a married man! Always the gentile Southern woman, she can’t leave until she ties up all the loose ends – and the loose ends keep her from her mission throughout the book.
  
  We meet Red Mountain Real Estate’s Team Hazel: Maggie, Brenda, Ethel and even the late Hazel through flashback vignettes and short chapters set in 2008 and 2009. The characters are well developed and the setting descriptions, especially Maggie’s dream home, Crestview are wonderfully accurate. However, Flagg’s humor doesn’t seem appropriate when the subject of suicide is the main plot. For 175 pages I grew weary of Maggie, but after Crestview goes on the market and a skeleton is found in the old home’s attic, the story picks up and Flagg’s humor shines to the end of the novel.
  
• 
  Elodie (hello.sunday)

  Dans ce livre, l'auteur de "Beignets de tomates vertes" nous amène dans l'Alabama de nos jours, auprès de femmes nostalgiques d'un autre temps. Après de nombreux échecs, Maggie a décidé d'en finir avec la vie. Mais cette dernière, pleine de surprises, en a décidé autrement et va l'entraîner dans des situations aussi cocasses qu'inattendues.
  D'abord gênée par cette idée de suicide, je me suis peu à peu attachée à l'histoire de ces personnages si drôles et humains. Au-delà de l'histoire, l'auteure pose ici une vraie question: la vie est-elle finie lorsqu'on a passé le cap de la soixantaine?
  Un roman touchant et une petite ode à la vie qui redonne le sourire :)
• 
  Kiran Bhat

  A very quotidian and slow-moving book. I found the language and voice serviceable, but nothing to write home about. Perhaps I'm not the right reader for Fannie Flagg, or I might have picked up the wrong book.
• 
  Diane

  I felt that I really needed a book that might make me laugh, so I decided who better than Fannie Flagg to put a smile on my face. Well imagine my surprise when I discovered early on that the leading lady in this novel is planning her early death by suicide. (Don't worry, it is not a depressing book).
  
  Margaret (Maggie) Fortenberry, imagined a wonderful life. She was crowned Miss Alabama in her younger days, but now forty years later, life has seemed to pass her by. She sees her life as having been one disappointment after another. She missed the chance of being Miss America, as a result of how Birmingham, Alabama was positioned on segregation issues at the time. She never married, and can't make a decision, always concerned that she will hurt someone's feelings. She is working in real estate, in a terribly depressed market, where she is still missing her former boss Hazel who got her into the field at Red Mountain Realty. So what's a woman to do at sixty years of age, after so much disappointment......well, for Maggie, she has thought it through, by making a list of pros and cons and has drafted her suicide note.
  
  Before she has a chance to put her plan into action, a telephone call causes Maggie to put her plans on hold. Suddenly one hilarious thing after another occurs that helps Maggie to realize that although life is full of disappointments, it is still worth living.
  
  The story is has an array of quirky characters that are sure to make you chuckle. From Hazel Whisenknott, Maggie's former mentor at Red Mountain Realty, who we learn about through flashbacks. Just over three feet tall, the lady was super woman, full of energy and spirit. Then there is Brenda, the self-absorbed sneak eater who obsesses about her weigh. Brenda is also with Maggie when the two discover a skeleton at an old mansion that is for sale. Other characters include the elderly Ethel Clipp from the realty office, and a cut throat competitor realtor named Babs Binington.
  
  Although the story is at times far-fetched and quirky, the author has the knack of making it work. In the end, I found, I Still Dream About You, to be just what I needed. It's one of those books that you'll be glad you read if you need to laugh at all the curve balls life sometimes throws at us.
• 
  Elena T. (Elinor26th)

  Fannie Flagg è per me pura evasione. Non rappresenta in toto lo stile letterario che preferisco, a tratti frivolo e sentimentale, ma chissà perché i suoi scritti mi coinvolgono sempre, regalandomi momenti di pura empatia.
  
  E' Maggie Fortenberry la reginetta la quale il titolo "Miss Alabama e la casa dei sogni" fa riferimento, per tutti una donna, oramai non più giovanissima, con una vita praticamente perfetta, un lavoro stimolante come agente immobiliare, un fascino ancor più accentuato dall'età: parametri realmente degni di una ex Miss Alabama. Eppure Maggie non può fare a meno di chiedersi come possa essersi accontentata di vivere una vita così diversa da quella che da ragazzina sognava. Il seme della melancolia si insinua come vago accenno di depressione, per quella che secondo lei è una vita troppo gravosa ritenendo giunto il momento di una sua "elegante uscita di scena" da questo mondo.
  
  Ma in un quotidiano che per lei è oramai privo di speranza, un dapprima flebile barlume di luce si irradia da Crestview, magione nel passato proprietà di un ambiguo industriale scozzese, fulcro di misteri e segreti legati a sparizioni mai chiarite. Senza contare che Crestview è, letteralmente, la sua casa dei sogni.
  
  La sensazione che si prova durante la lettura dei romanzi di Fannie Flagg è un misto tra incanto e calore, e in approccio alle sue storie sembra quasi di addentare un caldo, confortante muffin; il fascino dell'autrice è sempre stato l'enfatizzare comunità idilliache, dove tutte le persone sono educate, ottimiste e gentili. Si ha sempre la soddisfazione che la bontà, l'empatia, l'altruismo vengano sempre premiati.
  
  Sovente mi capita, (leggi pure: "in una fase di sovraccarico ormonale"), che non sappia mai come ritornare alla realtà dopo una dose di Fannie Flagg – e di riemergerne con desolante rassegnazione, quasi come mancasse un pezzettino di cuore. Nulla di ipocrita o pretenzioso in tutto questo, il messaggio che passa è di coraggio, ottimismo e al volgere dell'ultima pagina il sorriso è un must.
  
  Fannie Flagg è un caldo, semplice, abbraccio che ci ricorda con onestà e coerenza l'unicità di ogni essere umano nel dimostrare che la vita ha costantemente i suoi alti e bassi, ma trova sempre -infine- la via di casa.
  
• 
  Shana

  To me, Fannie Flagg and Lorna Landvik land in the same category of light, but not too fluffy reading. Their characters tend to be oddballs from the Midwest or the South, real, but still lovable. The stories encompass a community and usually ends happily with lessons learned and wishes fulfilled.
  
  I Still Dream About You fit well within this category, though the pacing of the story really threw me off. I felt that it spent too much time setting the stage for the “big” event, then rushed through it, and barely addressed the aftermath. It felt unbalanced, and this was my one major criticism.
  
  Otherwise, it was cute. It dealt with morbid subjects in an oddly matter-of-fact manner and involved the typical cast of adorable misfits, including the memory of a midget real estate mogul, an old-fashioned former beauty queen, an outspoken woman struggling with eating issues and working on a political career, as well as an old grumpy lady with a penchant for anything purple. Ultimately, the novel leaves you with the message that you just never know what’s right around the corner and you should wait to find out cause it might be grand!
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  Suzanne

  The novel "I Still Dream About You" was absolutely delightful to read! Full of quirky characters, I felt that by the end of the book, I was best friends with all of them, especially Maggie and Brenda. Flagg is an amazing storyteller, and "I Still Dream About You" is no exception. She weaves a tale that is part mystery, part dramedy, that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat, not wanting to miss a minute of this intricately weaved story that spans both generations and many decades in the lives of its main characters. I could not put this book down, and it is one of the best books that I have read since Kathryn Stockett's "The Help." I was sad to see it end, but Flagg does a beautiful job wrapping up this story, so there is not much left to the imagination. Thank you, Fannie for another great contribution to American literature!
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  Book2Dragon

  I can't think of anyone but Fannie Flagg who can take a sad subject like suicide and make it into a fun book to read. (no characters were harmed in this book). Along the way she adds suspense, mystery, friendships, and a wonderful story in a small town.
  The Only criticism I would have is that she seemed rushed at the end of the book. I would like to have the Epilogue become a sequel. C'mon Fannie. So much material there still to be read.
  Loved the characters, the flow, the humor, and the mystery.
  This is the 4th book of hers I read, and can hardly wait to read the other 10.
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  Debbie

  This was a great book...sometimes you think life is really bad, but in the end life is what you make it and how you view it. This book is about life and attitudes. I have never been disappointed by Fannie Flagg.
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  Céline

  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ... Vraiment un livre magnifique que j'ai adoré!
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  Dana Michael

  This is a book club pick. I applaud the author for being a New York Times best seller and doing it with dyslexia. That is a great thing. This is the first book I have read by her. It to me was humorous and sad too. I unfortunately, didn't care for the cursing and the Lord's name in vain that was used several times. Also there was head hopping and it made me a bit confused at times. The book did end on a pretty happy ending for all the characters. Which I'm glad.
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  La Biblioteca di Eliza

  Sono 4 stelle e mezzo!
  
  
  http://labibliotecadieliza.blogspot.i...
  
  Per una seconda volta incontro questa autrice e per una seconda volta mi viene da pensare "Fannie Flag perché? perché non ti ho letto prima? A cosa stavo pensando?". Dopo Voli acrobatici e pattini a rotelle, complice un regalo di Natale super azzeccato, ho deciso di buttarmi nuovamente nelle belle atmosfere di questa scrittrice americana e nelle sue storie semplici e solari, ma con quel qualcosa in più che mi fa sempre piacere incontrare.
  Maggie Fortenberry è stata una delle Miss Alabama più amate ed osannate dello stato americano. Ma ora superata la sessantina ha deciso di chiudere con tutto e di lasciare questa vita. Organizzata tutto, chiude il conte in banca, pensa alla domestica che non sa un parola di inglese (e manco fare le pulizie) ma che è tanto cara, pulisce il frigo, rinfresca il letto. Tutto è pronto, anche il piano per farla finita, ma... ma non è mai il momento giusto! La casa dei suoi sogni è finalmente sul mercato e non può lasciarla nelle mani dell'agente immobiliare senza scrupoli sua concorrente. Poi la cara Brenda crede di avere un infarto e non può certo lasciarla da sola. E così il suo piano slitta giorno dopo giorno, tra i ricordi una vita che è stata, di quella sarebbe potuta essere e, perché no, di quella che sarà!
  
  Fannie Flagg non solo mi convince ma mi stra-convince! Prima di tutto ci porta con se nel sud degli Stati Uniti e in quelle speciali comunità in cui la gentilezza e le buone maniere sembrano ancora esistere (magari non in tutti) e poi ci da una storia semplice ma mai scontata, con i suoi colpi di scena e ... ok ora mi prendere per pazza, ma ho sempre la sensazione che le sue storie sappiano di buono, come l'odore del pane appena sfornato. So, leggendola, che ci saranno momenti in cui il racconto sembrerà andare in un verso ma che alla fine il destino di tutti si compirà nel migliore dei modi. Perché questo la cara Fannie ( si da, oramai è anche un'amica) è, una persona di casa, un'amica di famiglia, che ti fa sentire al sicuro. E infatti così è! Anche davanti alla morte e al suicidio, ad un cadavere e alla storia triste di una donna che poteva essere e avere qualsiasi cosa e che invece si ritrova sola e depressa, non senti l'angoscia, non percepisci la tristezza, ma più un senso di inevitabile calma. Un ruolo fondamentale in tutto ciò l'ha l'ironia, le scene buffe, i momenti paradossali che Maggie e Branda soprattutto propongono al lettore (non so, io al ritrovamento dello scheletro mi sono spanciata dal ridere...).
  Un altro elemento che la Flagg ci propone è poi quel pizzico di mistero che da alla storia un po' di pepe. Chi erano Edward ed Edwina Crocker precedenti proprietari della Casa dei sogni? E la cosa bella è che Maggie, nonostante le sue ricerche e le sue supposizioni, non saprà mai la vera storia di queste due mitiche figure, solo il lettore lo saprà grazie all'autrice.
  
  Speciali sono poi i personaggi che la Flagg mette in scena. In un simpatico giochi degli opposti troviamo da una parte Maggie bellissima donna del sud, Miss Alabama e quasi Miss America, gentile e morigerata che però dalla vita ha avuto poco o almeno non quello che la vita le aveva promesso, dall'altra la perfida Begs, l'agente immobiliare rivale, cinica e menefreghista, non una bellezza, antipatica ai più ma che sgomitando e truffando ha ottenuto tutto. E ancora, opposta a Maggie, vero pilastro della storia, c'è Hazel, la sua ex capa, morta troppo presto ma dalla grande voglia di vivere e dal grande carisma. Maggie sembra sempre perdere dai confronti con gli altri personaggi, nonostante sia un personaggio che entra molto in sintonia con il lettore, eppure non tutto è detto e chissà magari anche la nostra cara Maggie risorgerà dalle sue ceneri.
  
  Lo stile della Flagg è assolutamente impeccabile, semplice ma dolce e d'effetto, ma soprattutto divertente e ironico. Non tralascia momenti di riflessione sociale sul razzismo, ma lo fa sempre in maniera delicata, mai urlata. Do giusto mezzo voto in meno perché Voli acrobati mi era piaciuto proprio tanto tanto.