Grab Your Edition Georgia Bottoms Invented By Mark Childress Accessible Via Document

read a slew of mediocre novels lately, When that happens I am usually very annoyed for devoting so much time to something I didn't enjoy, I decided it was time for something out of the ordinary, something light, funny, likeable, I'd been eyeing Georgia Bottoms at the bookstore for awhile, The cover is so cute and besides I have a very dear friend named Georgia, And much to my surprise, when I went to the clubhouse library in the community where I live, to donate all my uninteresting books that I didn't want taking up space on my shelves, I found a copy of Georgia Bottoms.
I snapped it up, because what's not to like about a free book

I fell in love with Georgia Bottoms from page one.
She's a southern gal, from Six Points, Alabama, who loves to cook, and I don't mean just dinner, Long before she was born, her grandmother changed the family name from Butts to Bottoms, That says just about all that needs to said about Georgia and her family, Brother enjoys going out for a drink after his court ordered AA meeting each week, Little Mama, her mother, is showing signs of dementia, And Georgia never misses a Sunday in church even though she's not a believer, In a small town like Six Points, it's crucial to keep her image squeaky clean,

Georgia Bottoms is delightful, The characters are so expertly created, I wanted to visit Six Points to meet them, Georgia is sassy and witty with a big dose of Southern charm, I couldn't help but like her, The author has a magic touch when it comes to humor, The lines that made me laugh the hardest were slipped in when I least expected it, The story moved along seamlessly and Georgia Bottoms was exactly what I need to restore my faith, Bottoms up for Georgia Bottoms! I've liked everything I've read by Mark Childress and this book was no exception, Occasionally verging into farce, Georgia Bottoms was nevertheless engaging, funny, and very occasionally moving, Georgia herself is infuriating and likable and this was a quick, fun read, In many ways this book was an entertaining read or sorts albeit quick and somewhat light, but I feel short changed by it's lack of character development and credibility.
I think the author has a good idea for the character of Georgia and near the end of this story you realize the potential for this character however, for most of the book she remains a caricature.


I suppose this book can be viewed as a humorous parody of small town southern culture, and it has some realistic portrayals and dialogue I grew up in Alabama and can attest to this.
It foists on the reader, frontandcenter, the uncanny fear and anxiety that many southerners labor under due to their seemingly genetically programmed, churchcentered mentalities.
But the story's iterations of what I felt was caricatured and exaggerated humor are tiresome and unfortunately dominate the book,

I felt like there could have been some interesting insights into a more compelling Georgia character the challenges and perspectives of a single lady in her thirties willing to brave her life in a small town.
I got a glimpse of her in the books final pages but it just feels like an opportunity lost now, I've read each of Mark Childress's novels since his first, "A World Made of Fire," published in, Born in Monroeville, Alabama, and a graduate of the University of Alabama, Childress is a master at portraying Southern folks, Some accuse Childress of creating stereotypical characters, But the fact is that the original persona existed before being labelled a stereotype,

Childress skewers lascivious preachers,less than upright pillars of the community,and intolerant attitudes in "Georgia Bottoms, " It's great fun.

Georgia is from an old family in a small Alabama town, Originally named "Butts," Georgia's mama had the good sense to change the family name to "Bottoms, " But now, the Bottoms have no assets other than their large rambling home, Mama is showing signs of dementia, Brother is on parole. It's up to Georgia to sustain the family,

Georgia is the belle of the town and a very practical woman, She doesn't believe in marriage, She likes to keep her options open,
She entertains six gentlemen, one each night of the week except on Monday, Each gentleman caller bestows gifts on Georgia, None know any of the others exist,

What Georgia needs to keep home and family together not covered by her callers gifts she makes up by selling quilts sewed by a group of black women in another part of the state If you've not seen the work of the Gee's Bend Quilters, you should.
Georgia buys quilts cheap and sells high in the town gift shop, The quilters haven't made it big yet, so Georgia lets her neighbors believe she's the quilt maker, No one calls Georgia at night because that's quilt making time, And it's a convenient cover for her six gentlemen callers,

The guilt ridden preacher at the First Baptist Church, "Mr, Saturday," is about to spill the beans to his congregation on Sunday morning, Brother is on a crusade to have Judge Roy Moore's Ten Commandments removed from the State Judicial Building, A documentary about a unique group of quilters is about to air on Public TV, And a little blue pill will cause that condition that should lead to medical treatment if it lasts for more than four hours,

Georgia may need more than one day off a week to keep on juggling her very busy life and deal with a secret from her past she's kept hidden for twenty years.
Childress entertains as always. "Georgia Bottoms" is a rollicking romp,

EDIT: This review is shared for the benefit of goodreads group "On the Southern Literary Trail," and to draw readers to a talented contemporary Southern author.


Mike Sullivan
Founder and Moderator
"On the Southern Literary Trail"

Georgia Bottoms has problems, The family fortune is a myth, her mother is slowly succumbing to an Alzheimer's like fog, her brother is a drunk and a petty thief, and her carefully constructed house of adultery cards is starting to tumble down.
To top it all off, her illegitimate half AfricanAmerican son has come back into her life, Did I mention that her best friend and female mayor of the quaint little town of Six Points is in love with her What's a Southern belle to do

I'd heard how funny Childress' books were, so I picked this up at the library what a disappointment.
For me, there were very few laughs in 'Georgia Bottoms', and no heart at all, Childress definitely has abilityhis dialogue is well done, and the story does eventually come to a sort of believable end, The problem is that he takes a very round about way of getting there, That's normally not an issue for me two of my favorites are John Irving and Stephen King, and Lord knows they go all Dickens at a drop of a hat, but the byways in Georgia Bottoms aren't all that interesting, not do they lead naturally to the ending.
To tell the truth, it looks like Childress was forcing 'wackiness' in place of actual story, I got frustrated by the meandering side stories because they seemed to be mainly in the service of time worn cliches about the South and Southerners, rather than actually enhancing the story.
Childress is no Flannery O'Connor as he is dubiously compared to on a jacket blurb, no Jan Karonhell, he's no Fanny Flagg,

In Georgia Bottoms, he's created one of the least likable characters I've ever read: she's selfabsorbed, selfcentered, a hypocrite, and an unabashed racist though she'd deny both of the last to the death.
Her world is unappealing. I 'get' that perhaps that's something that's supposed to make the reader feel wisethe fact that we see these things about Georgia and she doesn't.
David Nicholls does the same thing with his main character, Brian, in the fine 'Starter for', The difference between Georgia and Brian, though, is that we can see ourselves within Brian even while seeing what a prat he can be there is no such point of connection with Georgia.


I give this twoit was okbecause I can see that Childress really does have talent, I'll definitely try another one of his novels, to see if he got it 'right' in another story, Georgia Bottoms is not unstomachable, . . but I wouldn't read it again, Mark Childress' writing is wonderful, I did laugh out loud several times and smiled through most of the book, Georgia Bottoms is a memorable character who fights every day of her life to "keep the plates spinning," as she puts it, She says she is selfcentered and selfish, which is true, although she does take care of her dotty mother and AAavoiding brother,

I loved the characters in her small Southern town, including the preachers, the law enforcement officers, the nosy ladiesI could see all of them.
The situations she got into were incredibly funny,

Ultimately I didn't give the book five because I just couldn't like Georgia enough, I have a need to find heroes and heroines sympathetic by the end of the story, It's why I often have a problem with Elmore Leonard and sometimes with Carl Hiaasen,

However, as a fiction collection librarian, I'm very glad I bought this book for our libraries and look forward to reading more novels by Mark Childress.
He's got a terrific voice and a wicked sense of humor, it was a pretty fast read, I really enjoyed Georgia's scene of humor, Wasn't a fan of Little Mama's racist comments, but being an older lady from the south it's to be expected, I wish we would have gotten a little more time with Nathan and got to see his relationship with Georgia grow more, if you like southern fiction I think you would really enjoy this book,


You are going to need a good sense of humor for parts of this book,
Mark Chidress touched all the southern bases in a somewhat fun way
small southern town, eccentric people, sex, alcohol, the baptist church, racism, southern cooking and he threw in/for good measure.

I was not sure if I was going to enjoy that part of the story as I read it, but he did pull it off.
By the time the/comes into play you already realize that Georgia is somewhat immature and selfish she also is not a dumb woman.
Georgia grew up in Six Points what the people of the town think they know about her is that she can cook, and she makes and sells quilts.

Everyone knows not to disturb her in the evenings that is the time she likes to quilt lol
She seems to be well liked by most
people, and everyone wants to be invited to

her September luncheon.
What they dont know about her is she has a twenty year old secret, and she has another way of bringing money into the house to help support her mother and brother, she spends one night per week with six powerful men in Six Points, Monday is her day off.
and each of the men think they are the only one she sees,

She makes a comment about keeping her plates spinning at all times, As we all know spinning plates have to come crashing down at some point, for everyone, even Georgia.
I also had to admit to myself that as wrong as it is if what happened to Georgia on/happened to me I would be mad also living in a small town myself, I also know that what everyone appears to be in church and on the streets of our town is not what some of them truly are.
Its all about keeping up appearances for the most part, with that being said if we all live a long life I am sure that at some point we all will act the part of a hypocrite.

pay attention to the end of the book and what Georgia is heading into, Very good touch on the authors part, Do NOT read this book, Don't be fooled by cover blurbs that say "funny" or any synonyms thereto, Granted it was amusing at the very beginning, But it became apparent by the third disk that no plot was going to happen, Scenes were strung together over the coarse of YEARS with Georgia facing some glitches but no REAL trouble,

Various bits it would be an overstatement to call them threads are knotted together in the climax in the book, wherein Georgia tells everyone how many guys she's been sleeping with one slated for six days of the week, that she has a son from a black man.
Then Georgia drives her senile mother, heryearold son, her ne'redowell brother who is called Brother by one and all throughout the book and clearly has a mental illness, probably personality disorder all drive off to New Orleans!

We also learn in that last chapter that her best friend is a lesbian who loves Georgia but Georgia has never been interested.
Boy, that's a whopper to mention right before the friend drives off!

Georgia learns nothing, No one in the book learns anything or is changed except, I guess her friend, who gives up on Georgia ever falling in love with her.


And one burning question: Did the first preacher's wife really concoct with her married! brother a plan for him to sleep with Georgia as a way to blackmail and humiliate Georgia who was sleeping with the first preacher's wife at the beginning of the book

Egad, what a waste of ink, paper, recording time amp resourcesand my time! I kept listening only because it was in my car and it was like a train wreckit's horrible, but I couldn't help wondering how the writer was going to try to end the thing.
I was disappointed in this book, I remember laughing hard when reading Crazy in Alabama years ago, plus have good friends in Alabama so understand the dynamics of small town Southern life.
This novel just never reached the level of writing or humor that I expected, There was character development and I felt like I "knew" these characters, but they seemed very broad caricatures rather than deep rooted or multidimensional.
The main character Georgia is flawed, selfish and not very likable, but I reckon by the end you are pulling for her to overcome the predicament she got herself into throughout the story.
This almost seemed like a few short stories that the author decided to pull together with one character, or else he just had specific situations he wanted to showcase.
Either way, it was a quick read and luckily I checked this out from library rather than shelling out money to buy the ebook.
I would still like to read this author's other novel One Mississippi, .