Reviews for Buttered Side Down

The average rating for Buttered Side Down based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-03-23 00:00:00 Jeremy Cook When I discovered Edna Ferber's work I never thought to try reading the titles in order by publication date. I just picked whichever appealed to me at the moment and read. But when I started this collection, I could see so many hints showing up about Edna's most famous heroine Emma McChesney that I turned to Wiki for more information about my friend Edna. Turns out that Buttered Side Down was only the second book Ferber had published. No wonder I was seeing ideas and characters that later became much smoother in presentation and personality. This glimpse of her development as a writer was quite interesting to me; and a reminder that in my own half-hearted attempts at scribbling I should not be afraid to take an idea and work it out half a dozen different ways, try it on for size with a few different characters. Edna always inspires me in some way, which is why I like her so much. Of the twelve stories here, I did have two favorites, which felt more polished, with more of a real message than the others. In Maymeys From Cuba, a young woman in Chicago is looking at the window display of a fruit shop which caters to society people who can afford the amazingly luscious out-of-season fruit being offered. Poor Jennie has not had a bite to eat in days, has no money, no job, and no prospects of either. We follow her in a fruitless quest to find help. The traffic cop she asks for directions tells her which streetcar to take to the nearest soup kitchen, but she does not have the cost of the fare. What happens when she wanders into a large department store and discovers the grocery section? It will break your heart. In Where The Car Turns At 18th, we meet a small town boy who dreams of Something Big, and thinks he has found it the day the Navy Recruiter arrives. But is Eddie's life aboard ship anywhere at all close to what the recruiting posters advertise? And what can he do about it? Will he make a good choice or.....? I have just one more Edna Ferber title available to me and then when I need an Edna fix I will have to re-read. And I won't mind that a bit.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-12-11 00:00:00 Anthony Giorgio Why Ferber isn't taught in schools is beyond me. This is easily as good as anything Fitzgerald wrote but exposes so many small details about life from a woman's point of view...it's just a treasure.