Fanny Says

Starred review from April 1, 2015

In a voice that is both authentic and colloquial, Brown (Sister) tells the story, without sentimentality or cliche, of her grandmother Fanny. At the heart of these lyric hybrids (epistolaries, monologs, and other poetic celebrations) is language, the language of communication, the language of shared heritage. "Fanny Linguistics," for example, explains things--the uses of Clorox and Crisco, of swilling Pepsi, and of chugging nerve pills. These are poems of survival--and sometimes advice. "Child, you looking like some trash./ Give your grandma that dinge./ I don't care if you ain't got a dime./ I told you a hundred and one times--/ soap's cheap." Brown follows Fanny's story from young bride and mother to her death and beyond. It's rare to find a book of poems that reads like a well-plotted page-turner, each poem propelling the reader into the next, each poem filled with story and song. This is that book. VERDICT Bawdy and real, this volume will stay with readers long after Fanny has had her final say.--Karla Huston, Appleton, WI

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2015
After the loss of a loved one, people have a tendency to narrow memory's lens to focus solely on the person's best qualities. It's more rare to find someone both remembering and appreciating the whole of a person. Brown's depiction of her cussing, pill-popping grandmother Fanny, who wears push-up brassieres along with starched, short-sleeved men's business shirts, is poignant, funny, and utterly real. Fanny's tone and inflection come alive through the series of poems based on her actual words. And through Brown's vivid, honest, and surprisingly nonjudgmental reflections, we develop, page by page, a mental image of her grandmother in the mid-twentieth-century South and can't help but enjoy the process of getting to know Frances Lee Cox. While this collection honors Fanny's span of years on this planet and her impact on her granddaughter, it also showcases the writer's humor, insight, and poetic gifts.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)