Bingo

BINGO is not one of Rita Mae Brown's most literary efforts--it is too loosely structured for that--but it is surely one of her most beloved novels, effectively juggling eccentric characters and ridiculous situations with Brown's own take on modern morality. A particular joy are the supporting characters, which are presented with tremendous appeal: Mr. Pierre, the town's effeminate hairdresser; the massively overweight Verna BonTon and her endless family; the feuding law enforcement officers; the yuppie cub reporter--all presented with considerable aplomb and charm and sharpness. Everything adds up to one of the most hilarious things you'll ever read, a real can't-put-it-down, laugh-out-loud book that will have you sitting up half the night trying to silence your hoots lest you wake the neighbors. The setting, characters, and one-liners are extremely memorable, funny, and remarkably honest, and this is one you'll return again and again. I know I have! Recommended.


Three cheers for Runnymeade!   January 11, 2002
Dianna Johnston (Joplin, MO)
17 out of 17 found this review helpful

Those crazy Hunsenmeir sisters are back, and this time, it's personal.... Julia and Louise, after 80+ years of sibling rivalry, still don't have it right. And when Ed Tutwieler Walters saunters into Friday night bingo, the fireworks are on autopilot. Vying for the attentions of the town's newest bachelor, Julia and Louise pull out all the stops. And often at hilarious consequences....

Told through the perspective of Julia's adopted daughter, Nickel, readers are treated to small town life in all its glory. Gossip, disputes, affairs, friendships and, yes, even pesky family troubles, run amok in Runnymeade, Maryland, and Rita Mae Brown uses every ounce of her literary talent to create this unforgettable story. I was very impressed by what I read, and despite all their cat-fighting, Julia and Louise are two women I'd love to have lunch with!

I read the first book in the Hunsenmeir series, Six of One, a couple years ago, and I truly enjoyed Bingo so much more. Funnier and more wisecracking, Bingo will have readers yearning for weekly bingo dates in the Catholic Church basement, socializing at the town square, and the chance to take your pets with you everywhere you go, even to the doctor's office during your annual check-up. Wonderfully endearing. Can't wait for Loose Lips.


Watch out for the cannonballs.   January 9, 2002
Girl Friday APL (In the heart of the USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Runnymede, MD has to be the oddest town ever created in fiction. Full of well-intentioned nuts such as the feuding town sheriffs and the protagonist's mother and aunt--Juts Smith and Wheezie Trumbull--Bingo picks up where the equally implausible _Six of One_ left off. This time, the story is from the POV of Nickel Smith, the adopted daughter of eighty-something iconoclast Juts. Nickel watches as the town newspaper battles corporate takeover and her mother and aunt battle one another over, well, everything, particularly the available octogenarian Ed Walters.

At times, it's hard to believe that the town could be so crazy--there's no way Nickel's pets could be unconditionally welcomed wherever she goes--but if you stop and think about the desperate actions a small town will take to shake itself up, then perhaps there really is something believable about local yokels who fire a Civil War-era cannon in an attempt to separate two brawlers, and who obstruct justice to pull Aunt Wheezie's fat out of the legal fire. Who knows.

Despite the frequent necessity to suspend disbelief, I laughed out loud several times and felt good whenever I dipped into _Bingo_. Rita Mae Brown obviously has fond memories of her past, and that reverence is clear and convincing in this semi-autobiographical look at Runnymede. If only my hometown had a cannon.