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Old Girls in Low Cotton
Somewhere people act normal -- but not in the Downy Mount Mobile Home Park, where recently widowed Marfa Bacot lives with her mother-in-law Lulu, who cleans from hell to breakfast and has her make-up tattooed on so she's always ready for the rapture. As if it's not crazy enough inside the trailer, Marfa has to deal with the other eccentrics who populate the park, from the runaway polygs stockpiling water for the end of the world to the man who hears from extra-terrestials through V-8 cans to the domineering Don Ella, who runs the park with an iron fist and attendance-mandatory parties. Marfa dreams of a new life on her own outside Flagstaff, but first she'll have to let go of her old one.
Helen Childress wrote the movie "Reality Bites." She is a seventh-generation Texan.
Cover Design by Hannah Mode.
Helen Childress wrote the movie "Reality Bites." She is a seventh-generation Texan.
Cover Design by Hannah Mode.
42 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 12, 2014
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198 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 117 reviews
July 22, 2014
What. . the. . .heck . . was . . the . . point?
No structure, no point to the story - thank goodness it was short.
No structure, no point to the story - thank goodness it was short.
September 6, 2014
this book 5 stars is the abrupt ending. I loved this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who loves books with spunky characters who have strong southern influences. That may sound a little too specific, but I count myself in the group of people who enjoy exactly that. Throw in small town mentality (which may sound like an insult but it is not meant as such) and I am in book heaven.
To read full review please see:
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To read full review please see:
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June 15, 2014
Short read
Short read
I would have liked this as a novella. It was cute and funny and would do very well in a community theatre.
Short read
I would have liked this as a novella. It was cute and funny and would do very well in a community theatre.
July 26, 2014
Not a light read but I wouldn't call it depressing as some have in their reviews. I love the darkness and the harsh reality of the characters and their pointless bickering. Also it's great that it's not a happy ending all wrapped up nicely- life isn't like that. I would use a different cover to represent this type of story so readers aren't surprised when it's mood is heavy.
July 1, 2014
This is just ... ugh ... I don't know how to describe it - but really, really, depressing. I don't know how I managed to force myself to read the whole thing. It's a depressing story about two depressing people. I'm sure it's an accurate portrayal of someone very low down on their luck - but I couldn't find a way to like the characters at all.
May 23, 2017
Not my ideal read, even as a short story. It was more of a chore than a joy to read.
Clever language, goofy characters and strange relationships but the hidden realities between mother-in-law and widowed daughter-in-law is not really explored or explained.
Comic but not laugh out loud stuff, just a gentle smile breaking on your face. Quickly removed by the slog that is the prose which goes off under the influence of its own mind.
Not sure what the novella is trying to convey or represent. Unclear who it will appeal to, or who will enjoy its self-sufficient existence. It is as though we dropped into this reality and are now ready to move on. It is just a pity I don't take much more of the story with me.
Clever language, goofy characters and strange relationships but the hidden realities between mother-in-law and widowed daughter-in-law is not really explored or explained.
Comic but not laugh out loud stuff, just a gentle smile breaking on your face. Quickly removed by the slog that is the prose which goes off under the influence of its own mind.
Not sure what the novella is trying to convey or represent. Unclear who it will appeal to, or who will enjoy its self-sufficient existence. It is as though we dropped into this reality and are now ready to move on. It is just a pity I don't take much more of the story with me.
June 17, 2014
This last Sunday, yesterday, after seeing an advertisement on my Kindle, I used my Prime membership to 'borrow' a book, taking some time out for 'myself' to read something I wanted to read instead of a 'book for review'.
How strange, huh! I plan on doing this very same thing in the month of September, too. NO review books, only books "I" want to read from my TBR PILES UPON PILES! (I'm sure I'll have a few 'for review' books I need to read in there, but that's okay.) So, here we go!
If you have not taken the time to try "Borrowing" out yet, it is painless! (LOL!) I just clicked on 'Borrow' and it told me I cannot 'borrow' another book until July 1st, Hmmm? That is a little longer than when Amazon says you can borrow a book for '2 weeks' in their description to us, and bothered me because this is a Kindle SINGLE with only 40 pages! If I did this every month, I would call Amazon and complain about a Single being treated as a novel, for sure. Anyway, here it is:
DESCRIPTION:
Somewhere people act normal -- but not in the Downy Mount Mobile Home Park, where recently widowed Marfa Bacot lives with her mother-in-law Lulu, who cleans from hell to breakfast and has her make-up tattooed on so she's always ready for the rapture. As if it's not crazy enough inside the trailer, Marfa has to deal with the other eccentrics who populate the park, from the runaway polygs stockpiling water for the end of the world to the man who hears from extra-terrestials through V-8 cans to the domineering Don Ella, who runs the park with an iron fist and attendance-mandatory parties. Marfa dreams of a new life on her own outside Flagstaff, but first she'll have to let go of her old one.
Helen Childress wrote the movie "Reality Bites." She is a seventh-generation Texan.
My Take:
3 Stars
First, there is NOTHING NORMAL about this Single at all! It's very funny all through the book, but nothing NEAR normal! Although, from the look of the cover, to the description of the book, I was expecting that!
To correct the description, Marfa's mother-in-law, Lulu, moved in with 'her' inside of this 460 square foot trailer, 40' long and 12' wide, that's it. She liked her mother-in-law, but put two eccentric people together inside of a tiny space like this, and after a bit of time, someone is going to become irritated along the way, and it was Marfa, and myself! You can only take so much of Lulu, you know!
This book was hilarious in most places! Marfa's mother-in-law has a language all her own which did make this Single a little difficult to read at times, but left you thinking about what she said, and there was NO figuring out what she meant more often than not, but it was funny!
Here's the reason why Marfa had to open the door for her to move in. Lulu states:
"Never turn anybody away , they may be Jesus - But Jesus she ain't."
My favorite thing was this Sucrets container Lulu carried around with her everywhere! What was it? An ashtray! She smoked 120's because you get the most value for your money. (That's what I used to think back when I smoked! LOL!) She cleans 24/7 and NEVER stops! This irritated Marfa, and myself, again!
This 40 page story was funny, but a constant funny is not always a good thing. It detracts from the story. If a little of the comedy was removed, perhaps we could have gotten to know the characters a little bit better than what we did.
It's hard to do that with just a 40 page story, so I can't drop my rating because of that. This little story was meant for 'comic relief', or at least that is what it did for me! It was definitely different than what I am used to reading, for sure! I liked it. I would really like to see this book taken further and maybe even made into a full length novel. I think this author has the ability to do that, and I believe she could pull it off. Again, you have to remember, this is a Single, and it is meant to make us laugh, and laugh, I did!
The author is Helen Childress. There is not much about her anywhere, and I even did a Google search about her. All that kept coming back was she wrote the movie, "Reality Bites" which aired in 1994. Wow! That movie has a LOT of big named Actors! Winona Ryder, Ben Stiller, Jeanne Tripplehorn (she plays an FBI agent in Criminal Minds now), and many more well known named actors. This was directed by Ben Stiller, too.
I think this might be an attempt to get back into writing for Helen Childress? If so, I think she should give it a whirl!
I see in other reviews my rating is probably among the highest, but I'm giving this author the benefit of the doubt. My other train of thought here was perhaps she is even writing again to get back into script writing again? There are a lot of possibilities for this author right now, and if taken the right way, I think she'll do pretty good. Now I want to re-watch the movie she wrote, Reality Bites, since I can't remember it 20 years later! LOL!
How strange, huh! I plan on doing this very same thing in the month of September, too. NO review books, only books "I" want to read from my TBR PILES UPON PILES! (I'm sure I'll have a few 'for review' books I need to read in there, but that's okay.) So, here we go!
If you have not taken the time to try "Borrowing" out yet, it is painless! (LOL!) I just clicked on 'Borrow' and it told me I cannot 'borrow' another book until July 1st, Hmmm? That is a little longer than when Amazon says you can borrow a book for '2 weeks' in their description to us, and bothered me because this is a Kindle SINGLE with only 40 pages! If I did this every month, I would call Amazon and complain about a Single being treated as a novel, for sure. Anyway, here it is:
DESCRIPTION:
Somewhere people act normal -- but not in the Downy Mount Mobile Home Park, where recently widowed Marfa Bacot lives with her mother-in-law Lulu, who cleans from hell to breakfast and has her make-up tattooed on so she's always ready for the rapture. As if it's not crazy enough inside the trailer, Marfa has to deal with the other eccentrics who populate the park, from the runaway polygs stockpiling water for the end of the world to the man who hears from extra-terrestials through V-8 cans to the domineering Don Ella, who runs the park with an iron fist and attendance-mandatory parties. Marfa dreams of a new life on her own outside Flagstaff, but first she'll have to let go of her old one.
Helen Childress wrote the movie "Reality Bites." She is a seventh-generation Texan.
My Take:
3 Stars
First, there is NOTHING NORMAL about this Single at all! It's very funny all through the book, but nothing NEAR normal! Although, from the look of the cover, to the description of the book, I was expecting that!
To correct the description, Marfa's mother-in-law, Lulu, moved in with 'her' inside of this 460 square foot trailer, 40' long and 12' wide, that's it. She liked her mother-in-law, but put two eccentric people together inside of a tiny space like this, and after a bit of time, someone is going to become irritated along the way, and it was Marfa, and myself! You can only take so much of Lulu, you know!
This book was hilarious in most places! Marfa's mother-in-law has a language all her own which did make this Single a little difficult to read at times, but left you thinking about what she said, and there was NO figuring out what she meant more often than not, but it was funny!
Here's the reason why Marfa had to open the door for her to move in. Lulu states:
"Never turn anybody away , they may be Jesus - But Jesus she ain't."
My favorite thing was this Sucrets container Lulu carried around with her everywhere! What was it? An ashtray! She smoked 120's because you get the most value for your money. (That's what I used to think back when I smoked! LOL!) She cleans 24/7 and NEVER stops! This irritated Marfa, and myself, again!
This 40 page story was funny, but a constant funny is not always a good thing. It detracts from the story. If a little of the comedy was removed, perhaps we could have gotten to know the characters a little bit better than what we did.
It's hard to do that with just a 40 page story, so I can't drop my rating because of that. This little story was meant for 'comic relief', or at least that is what it did for me! It was definitely different than what I am used to reading, for sure! I liked it. I would really like to see this book taken further and maybe even made into a full length novel. I think this author has the ability to do that, and I believe she could pull it off. Again, you have to remember, this is a Single, and it is meant to make us laugh, and laugh, I did!
The author is Helen Childress. There is not much about her anywhere, and I even did a Google search about her. All that kept coming back was she wrote the movie, "Reality Bites" which aired in 1994. Wow! That movie has a LOT of big named Actors! Winona Ryder, Ben Stiller, Jeanne Tripplehorn (she plays an FBI agent in Criminal Minds now), and many more well known named actors. This was directed by Ben Stiller, too.
I think this might be an attempt to get back into writing for Helen Childress? If so, I think she should give it a whirl!
I see in other reviews my rating is probably among the highest, but I'm giving this author the benefit of the doubt. My other train of thought here was perhaps she is even writing again to get back into script writing again? There are a lot of possibilities for this author right now, and if taken the right way, I think she'll do pretty good. Now I want to re-watch the movie she wrote, Reality Bites, since I can't remember it 20 years later! LOL!
March 6, 2016
Helen does it again.
In my mind, this story will go down in my heart next to Tilley Olson's "As I Stand Here Ironing." I am older than the young widder woman and younger than his mother, may he RIP, but I am both women. And as I am more, so are they. Mindful, thought-provoking, funny, furious women. Real. Very real. As a 7th generation Texan myself, so many family eccentricities popped up in the book, I felt a deep kinship with Ms. Childress - even her very name just holders out to me "old Texas family."
In my mind, this story will go down in my heart next to Tilley Olson's "As I Stand Here Ironing." I am older than the young widder woman and younger than his mother, may he RIP, but I am both women. And as I am more, so are they. Mindful, thought-provoking, funny, furious women. Real. Very real. As a 7th generation Texan myself, so many family eccentricities popped up in the book, I felt a deep kinship with Ms. Childress - even her very name just holders out to me "old Texas family."
December 22, 2016
This was a super fun read that had me chuckling out loud several times. Some of the bad reviews are from people who didn't realize this is just a novella or short story at 41 pages. It's a fun afternoon read, humorous and well-written, and since I live in a motorhome, I could certainly see some the "trailer park characters" I've met in the past year in it. I really enjoyed it and only wish it had been longer!
July 2, 2014
Don't judge a book by the cover! I should have remembered that. The cover is so cute and the book was only $1.99 and 42 pages. So I thought why not give it a try? However it was all I could do to get through the 42 pages.
June 28, 2014
Don't bother
It wasn't worth my time. There wasn't much of a story and then it just ends not sure what was the point of this book except to bitter ladies arguing. Wouldn't waste my money or time on this book.
It wasn't worth my time. There wasn't much of a story and then it just ends not sure what was the point of this book except to bitter ladies arguing. Wouldn't waste my money or time on this book.
June 19, 2014
Depressing
This is a complete waste of time. I kept waiting for a story line that would make me interested. I kept reading hoping something would be of value. it never did.
This is a complete waste of time. I kept waiting for a story line that would make me interested. I kept reading hoping something would be of value. it never did.
June 20, 2014
One word..... depressing!
June 21, 2014
Ugh skip it
was looking forward to a,quick read was disappointing couldn't connect to characters didn't grasp the plot I'd skip it read something else
was looking forward to a,quick read was disappointing couldn't connect to characters didn't grasp the plot I'd skip it read something else
April 23, 2015
Ok read
The book was a fun little short read that brought back crazy memories of my child hood. I would recommend it to others
The book was a fun little short read that brought back crazy memories of my child hood. I would recommend it to others
May 18, 2015
Old Girls in Low Cotton
Although there really wasn't a plot to this story I enjoyed it. I liked it enough that I'm going to read another Helen Childress book.
Although there really wasn't a plot to this story I enjoyed it. I liked it enough that I'm going to read another Helen Childress book.
March 12, 2016
Depressing days in the life of a couple of women sharing a mobile home in a trailer park. What was the point? No plot. Just the day to day drudgery of their lives. Thankfully it was short.
February 22, 2018
So many questions
Poor Marfa. I feel like we have all been in her position at some point. Lost. Broken. Numb. Playing life on repeat just because we kind of have to. No way out. In low cotton.
I feel for Lulu, too. No one left to care for you except, perhaps, the one person who scrutinizes you most. Lost between bad habits and holy habits.
I would have loved to see or feel some sort of resolution. Any resolution. And I want to know why the hell there was a bomb in a post office in the middle of nowhere AZ. Beautiful word choices, but lacking a climax and a resolution.
Poor Marfa. I feel like we have all been in her position at some point. Lost. Broken. Numb. Playing life on repeat just because we kind of have to. No way out. In low cotton.
I feel for Lulu, too. No one left to care for you except, perhaps, the one person who scrutinizes you most. Lost between bad habits and holy habits.
I would have loved to see or feel some sort of resolution. Any resolution. And I want to know why the hell there was a bomb in a post office in the middle of nowhere AZ. Beautiful word choices, but lacking a climax and a resolution.
July 8, 2017
I didn't realize going into this that it was a short story. (I don't normally do the reading on a computer thing, but had no choice, so the whole selection process was new to me).
However, I did find myself saddened when I realized it was a short story. I would have enjoyed more of it. Super fast, raw and enjoyable read.
However, I did find myself saddened when I realized it was a short story. I would have enjoyed more of it. Super fast, raw and enjoyable read.
October 9, 2017
Interesting characters but left you wondering: what was the point?
Liked the story through to the end but then. It left you hanging. So much more of a story line could have been developed between the main characters and also with the minor characters. The end went nowhere and was very disappointing.
Liked the story through to the end but then. It left you hanging. So much more of a story line could have been developed between the main characters and also with the minor characters. The end went nowhere and was very disappointing.
April 29, 2019
Great read
Ms Childress seems to have a handle on sadness. The main characters are stuck together in a run down trailer park and seem to disapprove of each others life styles.
Sad but not unlike real life for some of us.
It is a good way to spend an hour or so.
Ms Childress seems to have a handle on sadness. The main characters are stuck together in a run down trailer park and seem to disapprove of each others life styles.
Sad but not unlike real life for some of us.
It is a good way to spend an hour or so.
July 15, 2017
A nice quick read
This one will make you laugh, want to cry and thank the Divine that you aren't Marfa! I'd definitely recommend it for a short, afternoon read.
This one will make you laugh, want to cry and thank the Divine that you aren't Marfa! I'd definitely recommend it for a short, afternoon read.
September 16, 2017
No plot
This story for lack of a better word was horrible and a waste of my time. Decent characters but no plot.
This story for lack of a better word was horrible and a waste of my time. Decent characters but no plot.
September 23, 2018
Good book
I really enjoyed this book. Kept my attention. I would recommend it. Would like more from this author. Thanks for an interesting book.
I really enjoyed this book. Kept my attention. I would recommend it. Would like more from this author. Thanks for an interesting book.
October 7, 2019
Different
2 stars; No ending, no real plot. Was a quick read to kill time. Probably would not redo for reading.
2 stars; No ending, no real plot. Was a quick read to kill time. Probably would not redo for reading.
August 1, 2021
3.5 stars
Read
February 1, 2024bro this story has resided RENT FREE in my brain since 2014
September 30, 2024
This was different. I liked Therese Plummer's narration.
March 8, 2017
This book was so good. I wish it was longer. It needs a movie! The characters are hoots! I didn't want it to end.
February 28, 2017
Quick read
Cute little quick read about a young widow who let's her mother in law live with her after a fall.
Cute little quick read about a young widow who let's her mother in law live with her after a fall.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 117 reviews