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Culture & Life
Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imagination
The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
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Fannie Flagg is the author of Something to Look Forward To and Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
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‘Heidi’ by Johanna Spyri (1881)
‘The Secret of the Old Clock’ by Carolyn Keene (1930)
‘A Star Danced’ by Gertrude Lawrence (1945)
‘A Curtain of Green’ by Eudora Welty (1941)
‘WASPs’ by Vera S. Williams (1994)
‘Travels With Charley’ by John Steinbeck (1962)
The Week US
17 September 2025
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Something to Look Forward To, Fannie Flagg’s new story collection, spotlights Americans throughout the country who overcome life’s curveballs. Below, the author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe names six books that have had a big impact on her.
‘Heidi’ by Johanna Spyri (1881)
How could I not list my very first book? I was lucky enough to have a father who read Heidi to me. Here I was, a child of maybe 4 or 5, living in a small apartment in Birmingham, Ala. But every night I was transported all the way across the world to the beautiful Swiss Alps. Thank you, Dad. You really started something: my love of stories. Buy it here.
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‘The Secret of the Old Clock’ by Carolyn Keene (1930)
The boys were the ones who seemed to have all the fun and adventures in the books that were offered. But when I was in the sixth grade, our teacher assigned us a Nancy Drew book. Nancy was just the character I needed to read about! She taught me that girls could do the same things as boys. Buy it here.
‘A Star Danced’ by Gertrude Lawrence (1945)
I picked this autobiography up in the school library and was transported to London and into the world of English theater in the 1930s and ’40s. How fun, how exciting, and glamorous her life seemed to be, especially during the after-parties with Noel Coward and Beatrice Lillie. Buy it here.
‘A Curtain of Green’ by Eudora Welty (1941)
After I read this book of short stories, I was so inspired I realized I had always secretly wanted to be a writer. But being dyslexic, my spelling was not very good. However, years later, I was lucky enough to meet the author, who assured me that spelling was not that big a problem. She smiled and told me, “Honey, why do you think we have editors?” Buy it here.
‘WASPs’ by Vera S. Williams (1994)
I knew nothing about the brave and courageous women who served our country as pilots during the Second World War until one of them gave me this book as a gift. It renewed my great admiration of that great generation. I was so impressed and in awe of these fantastic gals, my next book, The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion, was about them. Buy it here.
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‘Travels With Charley’ by John Steinbeck (1962)
Reading this book made me wonder why I always wanted to travel to faraway places when there’s a great big, wonderful country out there, most of which I have not seen. Buy it here.
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