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    Walking Across Egypt
    Walking Across Egypt
    Walking Across Egypt
    Audiobook6 hours

    Walking Across Egypt

    Written by Clyde Edgerton

    Narrated by Norman Dietz

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Best-selling author Clyde Edgerton blends a comfy Southern setting and quirky characters into an unforgettable journey through a spirited senior citizen's world. Filled with the details of everyday life, this novel evokes the homespun wisdom and offbeat humor that have become Edgerton's trademark. Meet Mattie Rigsby, 78, who keeps a clean house and bakes the best pound cake in Listre, North Carolina. Her children grown, she lives a comfortable and independent life. Her orderly days are about to be disrupted, however, by a stray. Unkempt and unloved, teenaged and delinquent, Wesley Benfield just might need a piece of her apple pie and a verse or two of Walking Across Egypt, her favorite hymn. As Mattie and Wesley come together, she will fill your heart with appreciation for a generation who still remembers that life is a lot better when it's filled with good food and good manners. The sequel, Killer Diller , is also available from Recorded Books. Narrator Norman Dietz's performance adds just the right flavor to Wesley, Mattie, and her baffled relatives.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJun 26, 2009
    ISBN9781440761607
    Walking Across Egypt

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    Reviews for Walking Across Egypt

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      It's a quick read with quirky characters. Mattie is a feisty senior who's always telling people how she's slowing down which is why she doesn't want to take in a stray dog. She's just too much to do around her place with her slowing down an' all. Of course, anyone who comes over whether it's a stray dog, the dogcatcher, the sheriff, the deputy, a convict, her children, or the next door neighbor, she lays out a spread for them. One mustn't be caught watching a soap opera especially if you haven't done your dishes! What ever would the neighbors say and think! Alora and Finner got on my nerves after a while with their paranoia and wanting to shoot anyone who showed up at Mattie's place. There were some cringe-worthy moments in the book where the "N" word was used but I liked Mattie who could work Alora into the ground even if she was slowing down
    • 5/5
      Funny and touching, great Southern writing with a spiritual component.
    • 4/5
      This book, which is not set in Egypt, and where nobody walks much further than the local church, was an oddity. Two parts farce to three parts religious indoctrination, it centres on an elderly widow living in the south of the USA.The depiction of the elderly characters is thought provoking. Their focus is on washing up, cooking, nurturing, offering hospitality and going to church. They aren’t distracted by the complications and concerns of the modern world, they just keep plodding forward the best way they know how. It put me in mind of ‘The Waltons’, though it is doubtful whether the Waltons would have dared crack quite so many jokes about sperm.The pace and tone of the novel is gentle, and I suspect it would work quite well as a theatre production as there are very few scene changes, and characters (like the annoying but amusing neighbours) popping in and out to deliver their lines. If I had a problem it was that I never knew where I stood with it. Was I supposed to laugh, cry or pray? Was I having my heart forcibly warmed? My inner agnostic railed against the religious overtones, and whilst it would be lovely to think we could really change the world for the better with a slice of pound cake and a dollop of the gospels, I suspect it’s not feasible.
    • 5/5
      loved it reading the seqelSeventy-eight year old Mattie Riggsbee, spunky and determined, has one regret: she has no grandchildren, as her son and daughter inconveniently remain unmarried. The story gathers momentum after a slightly sluggish start, when Wesley Benfield, wayward teenager and orphan, comes into Mattie's life. Their need for each other is apparent, and their attempts to get together, despite the disapproval of Mattie's family and neighbors, are the focus of the story. Wesley is captivated by Mattie's good cooking and grandmotherly attention, and when he escapes from a house of detention, he heads straight to Mattie. There is a hilarious scene in church, where the fleeing Wesley and the pursuing deputy sheriff, both disguised as choir members, sit beside each other in full view of the congregation.
    • 4/5
      A wonderful and gently wacky portrayal of the relationship between an elderly widow and a budding juvenile delinquent. If you like Southern food, this book will also make you hungry.
    • 5/5
      An great story of how two totally different people who live in two different worlds (an Old Lady, and a Young Trouble maker) can find so much in common, and that both need each other.
    • 4/5
      All I can say is if you haven't ever read anything by Clyde Edgerton, don't wait any longer. He's a North Carolina author and is always more than happy to participate in events around the state. His brand of Southern Lit. is a little lighter than that of Faulkner or O'Connor, but no less worthy. It's full of many of the mandatory themes for Southern Lit. -- religion, food, family, and people down on their luck. What's missing from this book that is always prevalent in books by more famous Southern writers is the misery. As much as I like Faulkner, O'Connor, and Capote (just to name a few), you don't usually come away from their books with a light heart. I actually finished Walking Across Egypt with a smile on my face. In fact, I found myself laughing out loud more than once while reading this book.Like many of Edgerton's books, this one is set in the fictional Listre, North Carolina. The main character is Mattie Rigsbee who is a 78-year old, feisty widow that loves nothing more than to feed everyone she meets. This character reminds me so much of my own grandmother who is now 95 years old and in a nursing home. My grandmother, like Mattie Rigsbee, made it her mission in life to feed anyone who came to her house. I don't mean just a sandwich, mind you. I mean a full course meal, which might include fried chicken, meatloaf (she always had more than one main course), cabbage, fried okra, fried squash, sliced tomatoes, rice, gravy, homemade biscuits, green beans, corn and several different desserts. My grandma is famous for her chocolate pie and egg custard pie. I'm drooling just thinking about it.In between cooking and taking care of her home, Mattie is busy with her church and family. She has two grown children, but she's still waiting on grandchildren. Mattie takes every opportunity she's presented to remind her children that she isn't getting any younger and neither are they. Her life takes an unexpected turn when she is introduced to Wesley, a young man in the juvenile detention center nearby. Taking her scripture seriously, she decides to "do unto the least of these." She visits Wesley and takes him some of her famous homemade poundcake and a mason jar of sweet tea. Wesley is rough around the edges but can't get this kindness out of his mind.I won't go into any more detail, but this is a "feel good" story that is at turns both heartwarming and hilarious. The book was made into a movie, which stays pretty close to the original. It was good, but as usual I prefer the book.
    • 5/5
      Can discuss what it means to be a Christian, humorous fiction, movie starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas (watch for mild lang. in movie). Great book!!
    • 4/5
      touching little southern story