Belle Weather
Jun 29, 2008
Belle Weather
"Mostly Sunny with a Chance of Scattered Hissy Fits"
Author: Celia Rivenbark
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: August 19, 2008
As I have professed time and time again, I adore Celia. She is a true, real, full-blooded Southern girl.
Southern girls have manners nearly beat into them from birth, but in reality - while we always tend to be concerned about what others think about us - we curse, drink, get highly annoyed.. and think harsh thoughts about everyone else.
Celia is not afraid to share this secret with the rest of the world.
She has her fourth book, Belle Weather, coming out in August and I highly recommend you go pre-order it right this very minute.
She spends whole pages telling Britney Spears how to turn herself around and make the South proud of her; how to drive a Taurus with pride, how to talk your girl baby out of pageants (while she herself is crowned Queen of Pecans), and the more delicate, genteel way of naming a cockroach so that we don't all shudder in fear.
Let's not even get started on her hysterical description of home remodeling ............. and all it's ramifications, including complete lack of personal space.
But at the same time, she describes Southerness perfectly, without funnin' about it. It's what I always preach - describe and celebrate our eccentricities without ridiculing our history or ourselves. Be proud of the fact that Southerners definitely beat to their own drum. Without that - we wouldn't be Southern would we, we'd be everyone else.
All I can finish this review with is that I went out to lunch by myself the other day with Belle Weather in my hand to keep me occupied, and it wasn't until I laughed out loud and almost lost my sweet tea out my nose in the middle of snorting unattractively that I realized I'd been putting on a show for the whole restaurant reading the book and eating at the same time.
I'm not sure I can recommend reading this book in a public location.
