Fiction_L Archives Looking for quirky regional fiction/movies Dates: 3/5/03,9:08 AM  through  3/19/03,10:22 AM  (30 postings) Search for: Select one or more indexes to search: 2011-current     2009-2010     2004-2008    1995-2003    (Matches from each index will be displayed separately in the results page.) Return to March 2003 thread menu   |   Fiction_L Archives Menu

FROM: [removed]@aol.com
REC'D: 3/5/03, 9:08 AM

Dear Fiction-L,
After discussing Honk and Holler Opening Soon at our last book discussion meeting, I thought we might do other books and movies about wonderful but quirky people in regional settings. The South is easy: I wanted to do Walking Across Egypt after listening to the tape earlier this year. But, I am having trouble finding booklists for other regions. Any suggestions? I'll compile results.

Maggie Holmes
North Attleboro

FROM: Viccy Kemp <[removed]@cityofcarrollton.com>
REC'D: 3/5/03, 9:08 AM

The shipping news by Annie Proulx. You feel as though you are shivering your
way through a Nova Scotia winter, very bleak and desolate.
HTH
Viccy Kemp
The opinions are my own; the library wouldn't want 'em!

-----Original Message-----
From: [removed]@aol.com [[removed]@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 8:59 AM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: Looking for quirky regional fiction/movies

Dear Fiction-L,
After discussing Honk and Holler Opening Soon at our last book discussion
meeting, I thought we might do other books and movies about wonderful but
quirky people in regional settings. The South is easy: I wanted to do
Walking Across Egypt after listening to the tape earlier this year. But, I
am having trouble finding booklists for other regions. Any suggestions? I'll
compile results.

Maggie Holmes
North Attleboro

......................................................................
Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
Everything Fiction_L: http://fictionl.webrary.org

FROM: Barry Trott <[removed]@mail.wrl.org>
REC'D: 3/5/03, 9:28 AM

I am not sure about the quirky part, but Richard Russo's books about
decaying northeast towns -- Nobody's Fool, Empire Falls, Risk Pool --
certainly feature memorable characters and setting that is essential to
the story.

Barry

*******************************************************************************
Barry Trott 7770 Croaker Rd.
Adult Services Director Williamsburg VA 23188
Williamsburg Regional Library Phone: 757-259-4053
[removed]@mail.wrl.org FAX: 757-259-4079
http://www.wrl.org/bookweb/
*******************************************************************************

On Wed, 5 Mar 2003 [removed]@aol.com wrote:

> Dear Fiction-L,
> After discussing Honk and Holler Opening Soon at our last book discussion meeting, I thought we might do other books and movies about wonderful but quirky people in regional settings. The South is easy: I wanted to do Walking Across Egypt after listening to the tape earlier this year. But, I am having trouble finding booklists for other regions. Any suggestions? I'll compile results.
>
> Maggie Holmes
> North Attleboro
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://fictionl.webrary.org
>

FROM: "Carol Kubala" <[removed]@columbiapl.libct.org>
REC'D: 3/5/03, 10:11 AM

A few that come to mind:

From the corner of his eye by Dean Koontz
the characters are wonderful but this is pure Koontz all the way so maybe not appropriate for your book discussion

Secret life of bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Divine Secrets of the Ya-ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells - at least I thought some of the characters were quirky!

Learning to Fly by April Henry

--
Carol Kubala
Adult Services Librarian
Columbia/Saxton B. Little Free
Voice 860-228-0350 Fax 860-228-1569

[removed]@aol.com wrote:

> Dear Fiction-L,
> After discussing Honk and Holler Opening Soon at our last book discussion meeting, I thought we might do other books and movies about wonderful but quirky people in regional settings. The South is easy: I wanted to do Walking Across Egypt after listening to the tape earlier this year. But, I am having trouble finding booklists for other regions. Any suggestions? I'll compile results.
>
> Maggie Holmes
> North Attleboro
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://fictionl.webrary.org

FROM: Annette Sliwinski <[removed]@linc.lib.il.us>
REC'D: 3/5/03, 10:21 AM

I think that the Nevada Barr "Anna Pigeon" series
might fit . Although the place changes with every
book, you get a very definite feeling whichever
National Park that the story takes place in.

Annette Sliwinski
Franklin Park P.L.

FROM: "Warner, Deb" <[removed]@co.durham.nc.us>
REC'D: 3/5/03, 12:07 PM

First, a secon on WALKING ACROSS EYGPT
South & Appalachians
Brown, Rita Mae SIX OF ONE, BINGO
Smith, Lee FAMILY LINEN, FANCY STRUT, SAVING GRACE
McCrumb, Sharyn SONGCATCHER, SHE WALKS THESE HILLS
Trigianii, Adriana BIG STONE GAP

Northerners
Shea, Suzanne S. SELLING THE LITE OF HEAVEN, LILY OF THE VALLEY
Gardner, John SUNLIGHT DIALOGUES

Southwest
Kingsolver, Barbara BEAN TREES, ANIMAL DREAMS
Lansdale, Joe very Texas, very strange

Mid & Northen Midwest
Landvik, Lorna PATTY JANE'S HOUSE OF CURL, TALL PINE POLKA
Dallas, Sandra PERSIAN PICKLE CLUB, THE CHILI QUEEN

FROM: [removed]@carmel.lib.in.us (Maureen Socha)
REC'D: 3/5/03, 1:00 PM

Loraine Despres - "The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc"

At 01:06 PM 3/5/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>First, a secon on WALKING ACROSS EYGPT
>South & Appalachians
>Brown, Rita Mae SIX OF ONE, BINGO
>Smith, Lee FAMILY LINEN, FANCY STRUT, SAVING GRACE
>McCrumb, Sharyn SONGCATCHER, SHE WALKS THESE HILLS
>Trigianii, Adriana BIG STONE GAP
>
>Northerners
>Shea, Suzanne S. SELLING THE LITE OF HEAVEN, LILY OF THE VALLEY
>Gardner, John SUNLIGHT DIALOGUES
>
>Southwest
>Kingsolver, Barbara BEAN TREES, ANIMAL DREAMS
>Lansdale, Joe very Texas, very strange
>
>Mid & Northen Midwest
>Landvik, Lorna PATTY JANE'S HOUSE OF CURL, TALL PINE POLKA
>Dallas, Sandra PERSIAN PICKLE CLUB, THE CHILI QUEEN
>
>......................................................................
>Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
>Everything Fiction_L: http://fictionl.webrary.org
>
***********************************
Maureen A. Socha
Readers' Advisory Librarian
Carmel Clay Public Library
55 4th Ave SE
Carmel, IN 46032
(317) 814-3948
[removed]@carmel.lib.in.us
"I cannot live without books."
-Thomas Jefferson
***********************************

FROM: [removed]@aol.com
REC'D: 3/5/03, 2:24 PM

In a message dated 3/5/2003 9:58:58 AM Eastern Standard Time, [removed]@aol.com
writes:

Dear Fiction-L,
After discussing Honk and Holler Opening Soon at our last book discussion
meeting, I thought we might do other books and movies about wonderful but
quirky people in regional settings. The South is easy: I wanted to do Walking
Across Egypt after listening to the tape earlier this year. But, I am having
trouble finding booklists for other regions. Any suggestions? I'll compile
results.

Maggie Holmes
North Attleboro

What about Fannie Flagg's FRIED GREEN TOMATOES?

Binnie Syril Braunstein
Romance novelist/former librarian

FROM: "Roberson, Jodee" <[removed]@ypsilibrary.org>
REC'D: 3/5/03, 4:09 PM

How about authors Lorna Landvik for Minnesota, Anne Tyler for Baltimore and
Armistead Maupin for San Francisco.

Jodee Roberson
Ypsilanti District Library

Subject: Looking for quirky regional fiction/movies
From: <[removed]@aol.com>
Date: Wed, 05 Mar 2003 09:58:31 -0500

After discussing Honk and Holler Opening Soon at our last book discussion
meeting, I thought we might do other books and movies about wonderful but
quirky people in regional settings. Any suggestions? I'll compile results.

Maggie Holmes
North Attleboro

FROM: Patricia Gibson <[removed]@tnrdlib.bc.ca>
REC'D: 3/5/03, 4:51 PM

Hi!
How about some quirky Canadian Regional Fiction? Try Gail
Anderson-Dargatz' books "The Cure For Death By Lightning" and "A Recipe
For Bees." Both stories take place in the Southern Interior of B.C.
Also, what about "Downhill Chance" by Donna Morrissey (set in
Newfoundland) or "A Good House" by Bonnie Burnard (set in Ontario)? I
would also highly recommend "Rush Home Road" which takes place in
Chatham Ontario at the terminus of the Underground Railroad (although it
is a contemporary story).

Patricia Gibson
Kamloops Public Library

FROM: Linda Lundquist <[removed]@prodigy.net>
REC'D: 3/5/03, 9:44 PM

Since you included movies in your request, I would
recommend a couple directed by John Sayles. His films
have a strong sense of place. My favorite of his is

Lone Star (1996) When the skeleton of his murdered
predecessor is found, Sheriff Sam Deeds unearths many
other long-buried secrets in his Texas border town.

...with "Hombres Armados" [Men with Guns] a close
second. You might also look at

Limbo (1999) Unconventional narrative about the
interactions amongst a group of people in a small town
in Alaska, each of whom guards a secret.

If you want to include films that portray
ever-self-reflective Hollywood, you'll have myriad to
choose from. One that stands out in my mind is Robert
Altman's

The Player (1992) A studio executive is being
blackmailed by a writer whose script he rejected but
which one? Loaded with Hollywood insider jokes.

Linda

=====
Linda D. Lundquist
Assistant Supervisor, Youth Services
Bartlett Public Library District
800 S. Bartlett Rd.
Bartlett, IL 60103
http://www.bartlett.lib.il.us

FROM: "Catherine Les" <[removed]@hotmail.com>
REC'D: 3/6/03, 1:08 PM

Hi-

>I thought we might do other books and movies about wonderful but quirky
>people in regional settings

I can't think of anything more quirky and in a regional setting than
"Escanaba in da moonlight." It's a play which was written by Jeff Daniels
and then made into a movie (starring Jeff Daniels). It's about the annual
deer hunting ritual in northern Michigan.

Catherine McCullough Les
Sterling Heights Public Library, MI

_________________________________________________________________
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FROM: "Carol Kubala" <[removed]@columbiapl.libct.org>
REC'D: 3/6/03, 9:14 AM

One of my favorite movies with quirky characters is Fargo.

Carol Kubala
Adult Services Librarian
Columbia/Saxton B. Little Free
Voice 860-228-0350 Fax 860-228-1569

FROM: "Janice Doxtator" <[removed]@fibernetcc.com>
REC'D: 3/6/03, 1:39 PM

Kathleen Taylor's paperback mystery series, beginning with Funeral Food,
came up on a 'sense of place' thread last year. The series features Tory
Bauer, waitress in a cafe in a small South Dakota town, and definitely has
characters that qualify on the quirky level too. I enjoyed the series a lot
and many thanks to the folks who brought it to my attention.

Jan Doxtator
Stevens Point, WI

FROM: Lisa Davis-Craig <[removed]@cantonpl.org>
REC'D: 3/6/03, 5:24 PM

I know you said you had the south covered but The mommy club by Sarah Bird
has definitely quirky characters and has a real sense of San Antonio, TX.

The film Bagdad Cafe has very unusual characters and you really get a feel
for the Mojave desert.

Lisa Davis-Craig
Adult Services Librarian
Canton Public Library

FROM: Dennis Lien <[removed]@tc.umn.edu>
REC'D: 3/6/03, 5:44 PM

No one seems yet to have mentioned the obvious author for Minnesota:
Garrison Keillor.

Actually, I think Howard Mohr has us pegged even better in his HOW
TO TALK MINNESOTAN. That's nonfiction (yah, sure it is), but there's
been a stage play made from it, so perhaps it counts as honorary
semi-fiction.

Do Janet Evanovich's "Stephanie Plum" books count for "quirky
regional fiction" for New Jersey?

Dennis Lien / U of Minnesota Libraries // [removed]@tc.umn.edu

FROM: "christine jeffords" <[removed]@hotmail.com>
REC'D: 3/7/03, 7:27 AM

>From: "Catherine Les" <[removed]@hotmail.com>
>Reply-To: "Fiction_L" <[removed]@maillist.webrary.org>
>To: Fiction_L <[removed]@maillist.webrary.org>
>Subject: Re: Looking for quirky regional fiction/movies
>Date: Thu, 06 Mar 2003 18:58:34 +0000
>
>
>Hi-
>
>>I thought we might do other books and movies about wonderful but quirky
>>people in regional settings
>
>I can't think of anything more quirky and in a regional setting than
>"Escanaba in da moonlight." It's a play which was written by Jeff Daniels
>and then made into a movie (starring Jeff Daniels).

Speaking of Jeff Daniels, I just rewatched my copy of "Fly Away Home" the
other night. Daniels plays a definitely quirky character (an environmental
activist and eccentric artist-in-metal) in Southern Ontario, who helps his
daughter teach a flock of Canada geese to fly and migrate.

_________________________________________________________________
MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*.
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FROM: "Carolyn O'Donnell" <[removed]@ahml.info>
REC'D: 3/7/03, 12:28 PM

How about Tom Bodett's "End of the Road" books for Alaska

Carolyn O'Donnell
Advisory Services Department
Arlington Heights Memorial Library
500 N. Dunton
Arlington Heights, IL 60004
847.870.4117

FROM: "Carolyn O'Donnell" <[removed]@ahml.info>
REC'D: 3/7/03, 12:38 PM

John Waters' films are all set in Baltimore - and they have NOTHING BUT quirky characters.

Carolyn O'Donnell
Advisory Services Department
Arlington Heights Memorial Library
500 N. Dunton
Arlington Heights, IL 60004
847.870.4117

FROM: Anna Berkes <[removed]@uiuc.edu>
REC'D: 3/7/03, 2:35 PM

>>I thought we might do other books and movies about
wonderful but quirky
>>people in regional settings

_Mystery, Alaska_ is a great movie with quirky characters in
a regional setting.

~Anna
************************************
* Anna Berkes *
* Graduate Assistant *
* 165 Grainger Engineering Library *
* 1301 W. Springfield Avenue *
* Urbana, IL 61801 *
* Email: [removed]@uiuc.edu *
* Phone: (217) 244-7829 *
************************************

FROM: Gena Zelenka <[removed]@park-ridge.lib.il.us>
REC'D: 3/7/03, 3:18 PM

FARGO; PARIS, TEXAS; FRIED GREEN TOMATOES.

-----Original Message-----
From: Catherine Les [[removed]@hotmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2003 12:59 PM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: Re: Looking for quirky regional fiction/movies

Hi-

>I thought we might do other books and movies about wonderful but quirky
>people in regional settings

I can't think of anything more quirky and in a regional setting than
"Escanaba in da moonlight." It's a play which was written by Jeff Daniels
and then made into a movie (starring Jeff Daniels). It's about the annual
deer hunting ritual in northern Michigan.

Catherine McCullough Les
Sterling Heights Public Library, MI

_________________________________________________________________
MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*.
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus

......................................................................
Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
Everything Fiction_L: http://fictionl.webrary.org

FROM: Di Herald <[removed]@mac.com>
REC'D: 3/7/03, 3:28 PM

Medicine River by Thomas King definitely has quirky characters and a feeling for place (rural Alberta, Canada). It was made into a movie with Graham Greene (one of my favorite actors).

Diana Tixier Herald, author of Genreflecting and Teen Genreflecting
http://www.genrefluent.com [removed]@sff.net
Rosenberg's first law of reading:"Never apologize for your reading tastes."

FROM: Kathy Mitchum <[removed]@ckls.org>
REC'D: 3/7/03, 4:10 PM

The Last Cattle Drive by Robert Day (the book) does a nice job of catching
some
of the quirks of those of us in western Kansas.

Kathy Mitchum
ILL/Ref/Rural Serv/Tech Serv, Dept. Head
Central Kansas Library System
1409 Williams
Great Bend, KS 67530

(620-792-4865) phone
(620-792-5495) fax

[removed]@ckls.org

FROM: Meg Justus <[removed]@pcl.lib.wa.us>
REC'D: 3/7/03, 6:50 PM

Some of Rick Bass's earlier books (Winter: Notes from Montana, The Book of
Yaak) are nicely evocative of northwestern Montana.

And Patrick McManus, of course, for northern Idaho. Just don't listen to
his books with headphones in a public place unless you mind people staring
at you while you laugh helplessly.

McManus isn't filed as fiction in most libraries (he's in humor), but then
neither is Bodett.

Meg Justus
Pierce County Library

FROM: Meg Justus <[removed]@pcl.lib.wa.us>
REC'D: 3/7/03, 6:50 PM

Also for northern Idaho, the book Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, and
the wonderful movie version by the same title starring Christine Lahti.

Meg Justus
Pierce County Library

FROM: "christine jeffords" <[removed]@hotmail.com>
REC'D: 3/8/03, 8:47 AM

I'd suggest "The Long Summer of George Adams," by Weldon Hill, which was
filmed with James Garner in the title role. Also several of Winston Estes'
novels, which are mostly set in Texas.

_________________________________________________________________
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FROM: "Diane Premo" <[removed]@mcls.rochester.lib.ny.us>
REC'D: 3/10/03, 2:52 PM

Try "Plainsong" by Kent Haruf, in case no one's mentioned it. Set on the
Colorado plains. Not funny, but full of unusual, memorable characters.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Meg Justus" <[removed]@pcl.lib.wa.us>
To: "Fiction_L" <[removed]@maillist.webrary.org>
Sent: Friday, March 07, 2003 7:42 PM
Subject: quirky regional stuff

> Some of Rick Bass's earlier books (Winter: Notes from Montana, The Book of
> Yaak) are nicely evocative of northwestern Montana.
>
> And Patrick McManus, of course, for northern Idaho. Just don't listen to
> his books with headphones in a public place unless you mind people staring
> at you while you laugh helplessly.
>
> McManus isn't filed as fiction in most libraries (he's in humor), but then
> neither is Bodett.
>
> Meg Justus
> Pierce County Library
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://fictionl.webrary.org
>

FROM: "Mary Clare VanDyke" <[removed]@marmot.org>
REC'D: 3/11/03, 12:00 PM

Anne Tyler books/movies (Accidental Tourist) and of course, Fargo
----- Original Message -----
From: "Anna Berkes" <[removed]@uiuc.edu>
To: "Fiction_L" <[removed]@maillist.webrary.org>
Sent: Friday, March 07, 2003 1:32 PM
Subject: Re: Looking for quirky regional fiction/movies

> >>I thought we might do other books and movies about
> wonderful but quirky
> >>people in regional settings
>
> _Mystery, Alaska_ is a great movie with quirky characters in
> a regional setting.
>
> ~Anna
> ************************************
> * Anna Berkes *
> * Graduate Assistant *
> * 165 Grainger Engineering Library *
> * 1301 W. Springfield Avenue *
> * Urbana, IL 61801 *
> * Email: [removed]@uiuc.edu *
> * Phone: (217) 244-7829 *
> ************************************
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://fictionl.webrary.org

FROM: "Carol Kubala" <[removed]@columbiapl.libct.org>
REC'D: 3/12/03, 6:51 PM

Two more:

Where the heart is by Billie Letts
Movie Edward Scissorhands

--
Carol Kubala
Adult Services Librarian
Columbia/Saxton B. Little Free
Voice 860-228-0350 Fax 860-228-1569

FROM: [removed]@aol.com
REC'D: 3/19/03, 10:22 AM

Here is the Quirky Regional Fiction and Movie list.

Quirky Regional Fiction and Movies
* indicates humorous as well as quirky
v indicates video

Northeast

*Russo, Richard: Empire Falls; Nobody’s Fool; Risk Pool
*Shea, Suzanne S.: Selling the lite of Heaven; Lily of the Valley
Gardner, John: Sunlight Dialogues
*Evanovich, Janet: One for the Money etc.
*Scottoline, Lisa: Vendetta Defense etc.
Tyler, Anne: Breathing Lessons, etc.
v: Waters, John (director): Cecil B. Demented etc.
*v: Big Night

South
*Edgerton, Clive: Walking Across Egypt
*Wells, Rebecca: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Brown, Rita Mae: Six of One; Bingo
*Smith, Lee: Family Linen; Fancy Strut; Saving Grace
McCrumb, Sharon: Songcatcher; She Walks These Hills
*Trigiani, Adriana: Big Stone Gap
*Flagg, Fannie: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe
*Welty, Eudora: Ponder Heart
*Burns, Olive Ann: Cold Sassy Tree
*Barry, Dave: Big Trouble
*Hiassen,Carl: Basket Case, etc.
*v. Crimes of the Heart

Midwest
*Landvik, Lorna: Patty Jane’s House of Curl; Tall Pine Polka
*Dallas, Sandra: Persian Pickle Club; The Chili Queen
*Keillor, Garrison: Lake Wobegon Summer, 1956
Day, Robert: Last Cattle Drive
Bass, Rick: Winter: Notes from Montana; Book of Yaak
Taylor, Kathleen: Funeral Food
Haruf, Kent: Plainsong
*v: Fargo (but also violent)
v: Escanaba in da Moonlight

Southwest
*Letts, Billie: Honk and Holler Opening Soon
*Kingsolver, Barbara: Bean Trees; Animal Dreams
Lansdale, Joe: Two-bear Mambo
Bird, Sarah: The Mommy Club
Hill, Weldon: Long Summer of George Adams
v: Lone Star (and others by director John Sayles)

West Coast
Maupin, Armistead: Tales of the City

Canada and Alaska
Proulx, Annie: Shipping News
*Bodett, Tom: End of the Road
MacDonald, Ann-Marie: Fall on Your Knees
Richards, David A.: Mercy Among the Children
MacLeod, Alistair: No Great Mischief
Anderson-Dargatz, Gail: Recipe for Bees; Cure for Death by Lightning
Morrissey, Donna: Downhill Chance
Burnard, Bonnie: Good House
Lansens, Lori: Rush Home Road
v: Mystery, Alaska
*v: Medicine River

Other:
v: Bagdad Cafe (Mojave)
Barr, Nevada: Anna Pigeon mysteries vary
*Beaton, M.C. Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin series (Scotland and England)
v: Ballykissangel (tv series on video) Ireland

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