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    The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat: A Novel
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    The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat: A Novel
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    The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat: A Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat: A Novel

    Written by Edward Kelsey Moore

    Narrated by Adenrele Ojo and Pamella D'Pella

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Meet Odette, Clarice, and Barbara Jean in the New York Times best-selling novel . . .

    Earl's All-You-Can-Eat is home away from home for this inseparable Plainview, Indiana, trio.  Dubbed "the Supremes" by high school pals in the tumultuous 1960s, they weather life's storms together for the next four decades. Now, during their most challenging year yet, dutiful, proud, and talented Clarice must struggle to keep up appearances as she deals with her husband's humiliating infidelities. Beautiful, fragile Barbara Jean is rocked by the tragic reverberations of a youthful love affair. And fearless Odette engages in the most terrifying battle of her life while contending with the idea that she has inherited more than her broad frame from her notorious pot-smoking mother, Dora.

    Through marriage, children, happiness, and the blues, these strong, funny women gather each Sundayat the same table at Earl's diner for delicious food, juicy gossip, occasional tears, and uproarious banter.

    With wit and love, style and sublime talent, Edward Kelsey Moore brings together four intertwined love stories, three devoted allies, and two sprightly earthbound spirits in a big-hearted debut novel that embraces the lives of people you will never forget. 

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMar 12, 2013
    ISBN9780385362887
    Unavailable
    The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat: A Novel
    Author

    Edward Kelsey Moore

    Edward Kelsey Moore is the author of the bestselling The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat. His short fiction has appeared in Indiana Review, African American Review, and Inkwell, among others. His short story “Grandma and the Elusive Fifth Crucifix” was selected as an audience favorite on National Public Radio’s Stories on Stage series. A professional cellist, he lives in Chicago.

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    Reviews for The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat

    4/5

    239 ratings36 reviews

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    • 5/5
      What a wonderful book. I'm so glad that I allowed my friend to convince me to read it.Earl's diner, in Plainview, Indiana is a central feature of this novel.Odette, Clarice, and Barbara Jean are 3 very different young women who form a bond of incredible friendship. Their story is told over a few years decades, with the use of flashbacks.The plot involves the loss of love and the finding of another that is equally important, learning how to stand up to a husband who is a philanderer, and the ghost of Eleanor Roosevelt.The greatest quality of this book is that it touches on some very hard facts of life while also being extremely hilarious.
    • 4/5
      Initially, I found it difficult to follow the stories of the characters. As I read on, I was hooked. This is a tale of three black women, each with a unique story, and with a friendship that lasts for all their lives.There are difficult events told in a serious manner, yet the events that occur are shared with each other from teen aged through middle age, the three women who called themselves the Supremes were each as unique and wonderful as their tales.This is a great book! I purchased it awhile ago, and should have read it earlier.
    • 5/5
      The Supremes at Earl's All You Can Eat Edward K. Moore

      &#9733 &#9733 &#9733 &#9733 &#9733

      What an excellent book, well written with an excellent story.... Characters who seem alive and believable..... To think this was written by a man.....

      This is the story of Odette and her friends, Barbara Jean and Clarice. For the most part Odette is the narrator and tells of life in Plainview, Indiana from the 1960s-2000's, everyone doing the best they can with the little they have..... Eventually all coming to face their "truth".

      It is sad, hopeful, enlightening, honest and heart-felt. I didn't see the humor but I did feel the love & deep friendship.
    • 4/5
      I absolutely loved this book! I had heard a little about it-all good things- and decided I had to read it. The story begins with three middle age friend-Odette, Clarice, and BarbaraJean, along with their husbands, meeting at Earls for their weekly lunch after church services. We are brought right into their lives, and taken back in time to the beginnings of their friendship-and marriages.I blew through this book much too fast-I wanted it to go on much longer!! The writing was wonderful- thoughtful and funny- and I felt like I really got to know and love these women and their men.I strongly recommend this book- and would love to hear how you like it!
    • 5/5
      A wonderful account of three black women growing up and meeting every Sunday at Earls to gossip and eat the buffet. Each one lives a totally different life style but they all love and admire each other as their lives unfold and evolve through the years. The women are strong. There are some many funny parts from one of the women's dead mother and Eleanor Roosevelt visiting, another standing up to men twice her size. Just a wonderful read and I will not tell you all of it because it is a must read.
    • 4/5
      If you love Fannie Flagg, this author will also find a place in your heart. The Supremes are Barbara Jean, Odette, and Clarice, best friends since school, living in a small Indiana town where the black section, Leaning Tree, has been subsumed into greater Plainview. The girls and their parents and boyfriends enjoy and suffer through the joys and trials of small town life. The best parts actually belong to the supporting cast of relatives, frenemies, and the ghosts who speak to Odette, including that very naughty drunkbag, Eleanor Roosevelt. The only drawback is the lack of clarity in the PoVs expressed, especially early on, which can be confusing. But it's a very pleasurable romp.
    • 3/5
      The book is not what I expected. The Supremes are three young school girls that narrate their lives ups and downs over 4 decades. The male author brilliantly captures the feelings and emotions of these three women, but the language hinges on coarseness. Does one woman stand out as the ultimate narrator or the reader's choice of favorite character? Odette seems to be the woman with the most street sense and the most compassionate. Odette has the perfect husband and life until an obstacle jumps in between her and utter joy. Clarice finds that her rapture with playing the piano as opposed to being with a handsome husband. And Barbara Jean needs to find herself or sink into the abyss. Moore develops his characters with rich, colorful words. The story builds and descends with each of travesty that jumps onto the path.
    • 4/5
      A very good read. I laughed and I cried and I had to look more than once to remember that the book was written by a man. I really enjoyed it.
    • 5/5
      The Supremes At Earl's All You Can Eat ByEdward Kelsey MooreMy " in a nutshell" summary...Three lovely ladies retell some of the stories of their lives! And there are some good stories!My thoughts after reading this book...Clarice, Odette, and Barbara Jean...three awesomely unique ladies grew up together all in the same small town...all in the vicinity of Big Earl's All you Can Eat. I say Big Earl because eventually there is a Little Earl.Every Sunday after church they meet at the All You Can Eat and pretty much talk and eat. Odette was born in a sycamore tree and sort of talks to dead people, Clarice has a mad cheating husband and Barbara Jean is under the influence of alchohol. These major issues sort of shape there lives. What I loved about this book...I loved the author's words...they were lively and lovely. There were racial issues addressed but I didn't really have that in mind as I read the book. Some people might think of The Help as they read this and like The Help...it as a good story. But it wasn't as sad as the Help for me. It was a sort of joyous book. These women were there for their families and friends and they dealt with things. What I did not love...There was a ton of eating going on in this book...made me hungry. One of the ways people could tell how admired a person was when he or she died was by the number of hams people brought...I loved the funny bits in this book.Final thoughts...A fun book about relationships and life in a small town...if you enjoyed The Help this could be a nice choice for a book to read!
    • 5/5
      I'd heard a lot about this book and was eager to read it. The first chapter was engaged, but the last line of that first chapter punched me in the gut and made me excited to finish it. The Supremes are three best friends, Odette, Clarice, and Barbara Jean, who have been together since high school. They're all married with children, some with grandchildren. They've been through more than their share of ups and downs, which are revealed nicely throughout the book, creating suspense without feeling like anything's being withheld. The writing is engaging, making the characters and the small town they inhabit seem real.
    • 4/5
      Odette and her friends Barbara Jean and Clarice, dubbed the Supremes ever since high school, have a lot in store for them this year, starting with the death of Big Earl, and Odette seeing ghosts and getting cancer.It's not often that I read a book by a male author who can really write a main female character convincingly - and Edward Kelsey Moore manages to make three of them. Going back and forth between Odette's first person and a third person narrator, telling the story of the Supremes in middle age and also delving into their past so the reader learns how they got to where they are today. Funny, empowering and heartbreaking in turns, this story has something for everyone, especially those who appreciate a good yarn about friendship set in a small town.
    • 5/5
      If you like Fanny Flagg, you’ll enjoy this book. And the best character award goes to…. the ghosts, Odette’s mother and Eleanor Roosevelt. I laughed and at a couple of points cried my way through this story of three friends who the community named the Supremes while they were in high school. Marriage and children intervened at times yet their weekly gathering a Earls All You Can Eat, remained a steady point in their lives. These ladies should have a TV show about them.
    • 3/5
      Odette, Clarice, and Barbara Jean (dubbed the Supremes), friends since high school and now in middle age, meet weekly after church in a nearby diner called Earl's. They've shared lots of ups and downs since the 1960's -- romance, illness, laughter, death, etc. -- but they've had each other to lean on and support.Though this takes place in a fictional southern Indiana town, it reads a lot like southern fiction, which I can give or take. It was lighthearted, yet serious. An easy read, overall, and somewhat predictable when all was said and done. I didn't have strong feelings one way or another with this book. It was more or less "okay". Fans of southern fiction would eat this up, though.
    • 5/5
      This book doesn't seem to be getting a lot of attention, but it is well worth reading. While some of the characters are one dimensional and somewhat cartoon like, they serve as comic relief for the very serious, heartbreaking things that are going on at the same time. The main characters are very well developed and made me feel very involved with them.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed this story of three women who have been friends since grade school and are now in their fifty's. One has health issues, one has trouble in her love life, and one has a drinking problem due to a haunting past. But they and their husbands get together after church weekly at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat, which plays a big part in their friendship over the years. It has some heartbreaking scenes, but it also has a lot of humorous parts. Overall, a very nice story of friendship, heartbreak, and love.
    • 5/5
      The Supremes at Earl's All You Can Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore
      5 Stars

      The Supremes are three African-American women who became friends in high school in a small Indiana town during the 60s, graduating in 1968. We meet the three women, Odette, Clarice, and Barbara Jean who remain lifetime friends along with their husbands and all the surrounding townspeople who add their personalities and opinions to the tale. The book jumps back and forth between past and present but does so without confusion. As the story evolves, we are introduced to each main character's life to find how the bond between the three friends has evolved through time. The cafe, where they meet after church each Sunday, also plays a major part in the plot.

      What a poignant and magical novel. We should all have friends like these! Throughout the years the Supremes have faced the spectrum of what life has to offer, and have stayed together and truly cared for each other their entire adult lives. Each character detailed to the point you feel you really know them. The book is a brilliant mix of humor and tragedy. I know I am going to be thinking about these women and their husbands, relatives and friends for a long time to come. I'm still smiling when I think about them and will never believe that Odette, Clarice and Barbara Jean are not real. This book was totally mesmerizing from beginning to end. I think it should be on everyone's TBR list.
    • 5/5
      Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat diner in Plainview, Indiana is home away from home for Odette, Clarice, and Barbara Jean. Dubbed "The Supremes" by high school pals in the tumultuous 1960s, they’ve weathered life’s storms for over four decades and counseled one another through marriage and children, happiness and the blues.Now, however, they’re about to face their most challenging year yet. Proud, talented Clarice is struggling to keep up appearances as she deals with her husband’s humiliating infidelities; beautiful Barbara Jean is rocked by the tragic reverberations of a youthful love affair; and fearless Odette is about to embark on the most terrifying battle of her life. With wit, style and sublime talent, Edward Kelsey Moore brings together three devoted allies in a warmhearted novel that celebrates female friendship and second chances.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. It was funny, and heartbreaking, and so very, very real. The narration of the audiobook was great on the part of both narrators, and that really added to the enjoyment.

      I think what I loved most about this book was how real the characters felt. Although the Supremes are best friends, they don't view each other in this "oh, my friend is perfect" kind of way. They recognize the flaws in their friends, sometimes call them out on those flaws, and act the way people in real life would act.

      There was just something really special about this book and its characters. I really, really loved it.
    • 4/5
      A story of true friendship that will make you laugh, cry, and laugh some more.
    • 5/5
      Made you laugh out loud... and cry real tears...

      A bit confusing at the beginning until you understand the characters and the timing- present.. past present... past... TERRIFIC characters and story- I really didn't want it to end.
    • 4/5
      Odette, Clarice and Barbara Jean have been best friends since they were teenagers. Decades later, they still live in the same town and still hang out at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat. This is their story of friendship through the years. I listened to the audio and really enjoyed this! The book does go back and forth in time, but it usually only took me a short time to figure out where we were in time if I missed the transition. The audio was well done.
    • 4/5
      The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore
      320 pages

      ★★★★

      I honestly didn’t know much about this book when picking it up. All I knew was that other bibliophiles were raving about it so I dove into it not knowing the premise of the book. What the heck, I like taking risks. Luckily, it paid off this time. I really enjoyed this book. I am always iffy in reading a book written by a man when the story itself is from a female perspective. Can the author pull it off? Well yes, he can and he did. I absolutely loved the Supremes, with Odette being my favorite. I wish I could be like Odette, I bet a lot of people wish they could pull off the attitude and just not care. Alas, I am not one of those people but I felt like I was vicariously living through this fictional character and loved her from beginning to end. The emotions of the characters flowed through me and I found myself laughing and crying at just the right moment. A great job done by the author. The story threw me for a loop; I just wasn’t expecting it (but lets me honest, since I went into this book not knowing anything about it, there was nothing to expect) – but it made me love this book even more. I see this going far and becoming quite popular. And in something I rarely hope for in book, I would really love to see this one turned into a movie – if done right I think it could be awesome! If you like books, such as The Help, this will be a book worth reading. Fun, intense, memorable, and amazing.
    • 5/5
      Audio book performed by Adenrele Ojo and Pamella D'Pella.

      Odette, Clarice and Barbara Jean have been best friends since high school, when they would meet their friends at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat, listening to music and enjoying soft drinks and finger foods. In keeping with the music of the day, they were christened The Supremes, but unlike their namesakes they have stayed together through thick and thin. They’ve married and raised children in Plainview, a small town in southern Indiana near the Kentucky border, and seen each other through the ups and downs of life. Now in their fifties they continue to face the challenges of middle age with courage and grace, and knowing their best friends will stand by and help them through anything.

      Moore has crafted a delightful story of friendship and life lived with grace and flavored with humor. There are plenty of serious issues here – infidelity, alcoholism, racism, cancer – but the women face things with their eyes wide open and with the certain knowledge that their friends will stand by them. I had to keep reminding myself that this is written by a man, because he writes the women so well – the way they think and react seems real to me.

      The novel is told in alternating time periods, taking us back in time to the beginnings of the Supremes’ friendship and some secrets they’d just as soon forget. Moore handles this back-and-forth in time quite well; I never felt lost or confused by changes in time or narrator. There are some over-the-top moments of hilarity, including a wedding disaster that had me guffawing out loud. Some ghosts make regular appearances (including a tipsy Eleanor Roosevelt), which could easily have gotten old and out-of-hand, but which Moore handled in such a way that I totally accepted the premise and was never distracted by it.

      Adenrele Ojo and Pamella D'Pella do a great job of performing the audio book. They have good pacing, and the skill with a wide variety of voices to handle the myriad characters.

      My only complaint is that I think he copped out with the ending. I don’t want to say more because I don’t want there to be any spoiler here, but it seemed as if he decided to end it so a sequel might be possible. This is a small quibble, really, because I sure am hoping there IS a sequel. I love The Supremes and would welcome a chance to read more about them and their adventures in life.
    • 4/5
      I love a book with a great sense of humor. I especially loved the visits from mama and Mrs. Roosevelt. Just one thing the author did that annoyed the hell out of me and keeps this from being a favorite was the reference "sit Indian style".
    • 5/5
      Diese und weitere Rezensionen findet ihr auf meinem Blog Anima Libri - Buchseele

      Dieses Buch ist schlicht und ergreifend wunder-, wunderschön. Mit „Mrs Roosevelt und das Wunder von Earl’s Diner“ hat Autor Edward Kelsey Moore eine zutiefst bewegende und ergreifende Geschichte über Freundschaft und Liebe geschaffen. In deren Zentrum stehen die Supremes, die drei Freundinnen Odette, Clarice und Barbara Jean, die seit vierzig Jahren gemeinsam durch dick und dünn gehen und sich jeden Sonntag in Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat Diner treffen.

      Geboren zu Beginn der 50er Jahre sind die drei farbigen Frauen in ihrem Leben mehr als einmal mit Rassismus in Kontakt gekommen, doch im Lauf der Geschichte stehen für die Supremes andere Probleme im Vordergrund. Nicht schlimm genug, dass sie sich, mit Ende 50, im Klimakterium befinden und anfangen über ihr bisheriges Leben zu reflektieren, nein, kaum hat die Erzählung eingesetzt, kommt es auch noch zu zwei Todesfällen, die die Supremes schwer treffen, sowie einem weiteren schweren Schicksalsschlag für das Trio.

      Doch zum Glück gibt es da noch die guten Geister, die auch aus dem Jenseits ein Auge auf die drei Frauen haben. Dabei spielen vor allem zwei eine große Rolle: Big Earl, der ehemalige Inhaber des Diners und derjenige, dem das Trio seinen Spitznamen zu verdanken hat, und Odettes Mutter, die ihrer Tochter die Fähigkeit Geister zu sehen vererbt hat und die nun beinahe täglich in Begleitung der stets etwas angeschickerten und längst verstorbenen Präsidentengattin Mrs Roosevelt bei Odette vorbei schaut.

      Das alles erzählt Moore auf so unglaublich faszinierende Art, mal ernsthaft und nachdenklich, mal voller Humor, mal erschreckend ruppig und mal mit ganz viel Wärme und Einfühlungsvermögen, aber immer in genau dem richtigen Tonfall. Dabei versetzt er die Geschichte immer wieder mit Rückblenden aus dem Leben der einzelnen Supremes, zeigt dem Leser so, wie die drei Frauen dort gelandet sind, wo sie zum Zeitpunkt der Geschichte stehen, verdeutlicht dem Leser, wieso sie so auf ihr Leben zurückblicken wie sie es gerade tun und wieso sie sich mit eben den Fragen und Selbstzweifeln/-Vorwürfen quälen, die sie gerade bewegen.

      „Mrs Roosevelt und das Wunder von Earl’s Diner“ hat mich wiederholt zum Lachen gebracht und, zugegeben, auch das eine oder andere Tränchen konnte ich mir nicht verkneifen. Ein wundervolles, stellenweise todtrauriges, Buch voller Energie, das eine unglaubliche und doch so greifbare und real wirkende Geschichte von Freundschaft erzählt und das ich nur jedem Leser wärmstens ans Herz legen kann!
    • 4/5
      The Supremes of the title are three high-school friends, African-American women who graduated in the late 1960s and are still friends in the early years of the new millennium. Odette, Clarice and Barbara Jean come from different backgrounds, have vastly different personalities, worship different churches (all Baptist), and are coping with different issues. All know the experiences of both joy and heartbreak. Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat is a restaurant that is pivotal meeting place for the people of Plainview, Indiana, and has been for decades. Big Earl is retired and remarried after the death of his wife Thelma, and the restaurant is being run by Little Earl, his wife and kids. But Earl and Thelma played key roles in the stories of all three Supremes. The “Supremes” (an affectionate nickname for the threesome given by Big Earl) are a lively bunch, and from the opening chapter, readers know they’re in for a treat. I can usually tell whether the ending of the book will be happy or not – based on the cover art. The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat’s dust jacket features happy, colorful art, showing the main street of Plainview. I figured a happy ending is in store. And it is, although the path to that ending is pretty harrowing. The story bounces back from the 1960s to the mid 2000s, giving the back story of each of the characters. The story of how Barbara Jean came to be in the charmed circle is sad and sweet at the same time. There are a lot of sad and sweet stories in The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat. And there are lots of ghosts, including that of Eleanor Roosevelt. The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat is not a book with literary pretensions, just good storytelling that is both truthful and uplifting – and some spots that are laugh-out-loud funny. I hope the author writes more books featuring the Supremes. The hard-cover copy of the book has an attached bookmark ribbon, unusual and old-fashioned nowadays, but fitting for this book.
    • 4/5
      I'm a sucker for stories about friendship, and this didn't disappoint. I did find myself confused occasionally by who was speaking and what decade the speaker was in.
    • 4/5
      A white person such as I am cannot and will not fully understand the life that the blacks lived through before the 1970's especially in the South. The Southern black culture is considerable different than the life I lead in the 1960's and this book made me appreciate the tight knit community of blacks in the South.I laughed and cried during the reading of this book which I believe some one not of color should read for them to understand the fears that blacks experienced in this era; especially the family and church oriented illustrated in this novel. The moral of this tale to me is unless you walk a mile in someone else's shoes don't judge.
    • 5/5
      I downloaded the audio of this book for my business trip and was quickly sucked into the story. Odette, Barbara Jean, and Clarice are "the Supremes." They were given that name in high school by Big Earl, owner of Earl's All-You-Can-Eat. The restaurant was a part of the girl's adolescent years, and it continues to be their gathering spot now that they are older and married with grown children. The challenges that they deal with now are much different than the challenges of their early years, but they face them the way that they always did - together. The story is well told, but it is the characters that carry this book. Odette was born in a sycamore tree, and she is the boldest of the three. She is visited by the ghost of her mother (along with her sidekick Eleanor Roosevelt), and her honesty had me laughing out loud. Clarice finds that growing older helps her escape from her mother's expectations and find her own place in the world. And Barbara Jean never quite gets over the death of a child and needs her friends even more as she has to face another tragedy. The story is peppered with a wild cast of supporting characters and captures the ups and downs of daily life. But it is ultimately a story filled with hope - the hope that comes with knowing that someone is always on your side.
    • 5/5
      I just finished The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore, and I loved it. In fact, I was sorry to see it end.Three life-long friends, Odette, Clarice and Barbara Jean, share each other's dreams and sorrows; they support one another through good and bad times. The reader becomes invested in and connected to many of the well-developed characters. My favorites were Odette and James, but there is a character for every reader in this novel.There is no question that this is a quirky story, some of the characters talk to family and friends who have passed, and initially, I wasn't sure if this was a book for me. Additionally, I generally don't read books that are said to be humorous and amusing because they usually fall short of what I consider funny, but not in this case. There are some truly hilarious, laugh out-loud moments which kept me smiling. But, this is also a touching and substantial story. It was the perfect combination. I laughed. I cried. I enjoyed getting lost in the story. It's not to be missed.