Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe  by Fannie Flagg

Amende, Coral. Legends In Their Own Time. New York: Prentice Hall General Reference, 1994.

This reference is a collection of information about 10,000 famous people. Fannie Flagg is among the people listed in this source. The information about the people includes birth date, birth name, and occuption. In Fannie Flagg's entry, there is a list of her accomplishments in entertainment including television appearances.

Banas, Mary. Rev. of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, by Fannie Flagg. Booklist 1

This source is a brief review of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café. It gives a brief plot summary as well. The book is praised in this review. It is called "as swift as the life of a small town is slow." This review was good, but it was too short. It would have been better if some of the weaknesses of the novel were also commented on.

Beach, Barbara, ed. Book Review Index Cumulation 1987. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1988.

This source gives a list of all the books that were reviewed in 1987. Each entry gives the source of the review and the date. This source was helpful in finding the actual book reviews of Fried Green Tomatoes. Each entry had abbreviations that were actual sources. Great sources like the New York Times Book Review were found using this source.

Bibby, Bruce. "'Tomatoes' With Oscars." Premiere February 1992: 33-34.

This article is mostly about Jessica Tandy and Kathy Bates who play two of the main characters in the film Fried Green Tomatoes based on Fannie Flagg's book. The article discusses the hardships of Hollywood for these two Oscar-winning actresses. Fannie Flagg is mentioned in the article. The article discusses her book and script. It is an interesting article about the actresses, but it also gives information about the movie and Fannie Flagg, the writer.

Brown, Geoff. Rev. of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, dir. Jon Avnet. Sight and Sound

This article is a movie review of the film Fried Green Tomatoes. It begins with a summary of the film. The summary covers all the main events in the film. Then, Brown reviews the film. The story in the movie is much different from the book. Many of the events have been changed or deleted completely. The review of the movie itself is not very good. Brown feels that the "emotions stirred lack the depth to make the film linger."

Butler, Jack. Rev. of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, by Fannie Flagg. New York Times

This is a book review by Jack Butler about Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes. Butler gives a good review for Flagg's novel. He calls it a "real novel and a good one." He gives generally a lot of praise for the books innovation, but he criticizes some of the narrations in the novel. He admires the newspaper excerpts and the time shifting chapters. This is a valuable review because it was written before the movie came out. Butler gives a genuine review and looks at the bad as well as the good.

Flagg, Fannie. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café. New York: Random House, 1987.

This novel is about two friendships set over fifty years apart, but they are somehow connected. The story jumps through time and location in each chapter. Each chapter is different, but each progresses the novel. This book is a fun and quick read. It really brings the reader into the world of the characters.

"Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café: Reviews and Commentary." Online. Yahoo. Available

Kauffman, Stanley. Rev. of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, dir. Jon Avnet. New

This article is a review for the film version of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café. It praises Jessica Tandy's performance, but it criticizes everything else. He criticizes Fannie Flagg's script the most. He called it the script "overused" and "cliché." He also criticizes the cowardice of the script for avoiding the implied lesbian relationship between the main characters. This source was not really related too much to the book itself, but it was useful in seeing how Fannie Flagg changed her book for the movie. It was also good to see a new opinion on the film that was not positive.

McMurray, Emily J., ed. Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television. Vol. 11. Detroit: Gale Research,

This reference is a list of people working in theatre, film, and television. Each entry lists the person along with various accomplishments in the entertainment industry. Fannie Flagg's entry has all of her awards and honors. The entry also lists all of her work in film and on television. The entry also says that she was nominated for an Oscar for her screenplay for Fried Green Tomatoes. This source was useful because it showed how involved Fannie Flagg is in many different aspects of the theatre, film, and television world.

Ragan, David, ed. Who's Who in Hollywood. New York: Facts on File, 1992.

This book is a collection of people involved in the entertainment industry. Each entry includes the various works the person has been in. The birthplace and birth name are also given at the end of each entry. This source was useful in getting a brief view of Fannie Flagg's life. She is involved in acting as well as novel writing.

Simon, John. Rev. of Fried Green Tomatoes, dir. Jon Avnet. National Review. 30 March 1992: 44-45.

This column is a review of the movies from the week of March 30, 1992. Among the movies reviewed is Fried Green Tomatoes. Simon likes the film a lot and adores the cast. He does feel that the melodramatic moments in the film are not played "as smoothly as they might." However, overall he like the film and Fannie Flagg's screenplay. This source dealt more with the film than the book, but the review was helpful. It helped show the reader how effective Flagg was at making her novel a good film.

Steinberg, Sybil. Rev. of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, by Fannie Flagg. Publishers Weekly 28 August 1987: 64.

This article is a brief summary and review of Fannie Flagg's novel. This summary gives a description of the novel. The review is very short, but it praises the book highly. The reviewer admires the candid and tart characters in the novel. This review was not very long or good. It seemed to be an ad to sell the book, but the summary was good and very accurate.

Stetler, Susan L., ed. Almanac of Famous People. Detroit: Gale Research, Inc., 1989.

This almanac is a list of famous people all around the world. The person's accomplishments are listed along with dates. Each entry is short, but each is very informative. This source was a good source to find brief histories on famous people. Fannie Flagg is among the people listed. She is very involved in television, film, and literature.

Trosky, Susan, ed. Contemporary Authors. Vol. 40. Detroit: Gale Research, 1993.

This is source is a collection of mini-biographies of contemporary authors. Each entry lists the works and accomplishments of each author, but there is also a summary of the novels by the author under the heading of "Sidelights." This is a great source that detailed Flagg's work as well as her life. The best thing about this source is that it lists other periodicals with articles about the author.

Unterbrink, Mary. Funny Women. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1987.

This book is book about American comediennes and their lives. Fannie Flagg is among the women profiled in the book. It gives a brief description of her life including her upbringing in Alabama to her many television appearances. This book was published before her novel Fried Green Tomatoes became a success, but this book is still helpful in learning about Fannie Flagg's life.

"Welcome to the Original Whistle Stop: The Irondale Café." Online. Yahoo. Available at

This is an interesting web site about the real café that the book by Fannie Flagg is based. The site gives a history of the café and its original owners. One these owners, Bess Fortenberry, has a niece named Fannie Flagg. Fannie Flagg is the author of the book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café. This is an interesting site because it shows where Fannie Flagg got the inspiration to write the book.