Life Affirming
Customer Rating: 
A warm and reassuring look at death and life. Perhaps not quite up to her previous works in depth and subtlety, but still a delight. I do wish the author would not play so fast and loose with basic facts about characters from book to book, though. It just jars you out of your suspension of disbelief a bit. Norma an Macky should be in their seventies, not sixties, based on their ages inStanding in the Rainbow, and Linda, born in the late 1940's, would be in her fifties, not 34. Other character ages and circumstances don't always match up, either, which readers do notice. Still, a wonderful book, like all Flagg's work.
Grab it - quick!
Customer Rating: First of all, for anyone who has not yet read Fannie Flagg, just what are you waiting for?! She is one of my favorite authors - I was hooked after reading Redbird Christmas also written by her, a couple of years ago. Since then, I have yet to be disappointed with any of Fannie Flagg's books and Can't Wait to Get to Heaven is no exception.
Can't Wait to Get to Heaven focuses on elderly Mrs. Elner Shimfissle. Though her true age is not known, her niece, Norma, guesses her to be eighty-nine. Elner is a delightful and uproariously fun character. Full of spunk and fire, no one is a stranger to Elner. When she is not busy chatting up someone, she is trying to puzzle out such mysteries as what came first - the chicken or the egg?
One fateful morning, Elner decides to climb her ladder to pick a few figs from her fig tree. Little does she know that wasps have taken over the tree and are very unhappy to find someone butting in on their home. Next thing, Elner falls to the ground and soon finds herself riding a zig zag elevator and climbing crystal stairs with her long dead sister. Elner soon discovers that she is in heaven and is having a hay day, complete with the honor of meeting her idol Thomas Edison.
Meanwhile, back on earth, news of Elner's death spreads like wildfire. Grieving and heartbreak overcome everyone who was touched by Elner in some way. Flowers are ordered for her funeral and even her obit is written up. How amazing the influence and importance one fiery woman had on so many.
It is not long, however, that Elner is sent back to earth. She makes her presence known while having a final visit from her niece, Norma, Norma's husband Macky and great-niece Linda. Not to mention a nurse who is standing by, when Elner suddenly sits straight up in bed and begins to talk to everyone around her. Needless to say, the nurse runs from the room screaming and keeps right on going for a good two miles from the hospital. Imagine, a woman proclaimed dead five hours prior, suddenly wide awake and full of health.
Events that follow are both heartwarming and laugh out loud funny, as is the entire book. I greatly enjoy the way Fannie Flagg combines a wonderful and warming story with such great humor. Once I started reading, I found myself racing through until the end, enjoying each and every page. Can't Wait to Get to Heaven is a marvelous book and one that gets my highest recommendations
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