Customer Reviews

Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Patrick Dennis' famous "Auntie Mame" has so many incarnations that it can be hard to keep track. In the 1950s there was a famous stage version and still more famous film version, both starring the illustrious Rosalind Russell; in the 1960s there was an extremely popular stage musical starring Angela Lansbury and then a critically disasterous screen musical starring Lucille Ball. But this is the first, the original: AUNTIE MAME, one the 1950s' most talked-about books, a true runaway bestseller and one of the great classics of American humor.

The episodic book concerns an orphaned child, Patrick Dennis, who is sent to live with an aunt he has never before seen in 1920s New York--and the aunt is Mame Dennis, a fast-living, intellectually sharp, and decidedly eccentric woman beset by both the fads and fashions of the day and the money and social connections with which to indulge them. Although time has rather blunted the actual way in which Patrick Dennis writes (his framing device of a magazine article is more than a little tiresome), it certainly has not blunted the character herself: madcap Mame runs riot through the roaring twenties, goes through largely self-induced hysteria during the Depression, works for the boys during World War II, and along the way gets involves in art movements, theatrical performances, fox hunts, Southern country society, war orphans, a wealthy husband, an Irish poet, a college lover, and most famously her beloved nephew's unfortunate engagement to the shallow and snobbish Gloria Upson. Each comic disaster is more memorable than the last, and Mame herself lingers in the mind as an inspiration to live life to the fullest no matter the consequences.

Fans of the Rosalind Russell film version will quickly realize that Russell has captured the character perfectly; the book, however, is at once less structured and considerably broader than the Russell playscript and film. Very episodic and considered quite riske for its time, it contains a number of adventures (such as Mame's seduction of one of Patrick's college friends or her introduction of Patrick to the Maddox sisters) that never made it to any performance version. Both fans of the various plays and films and even the completely uninitiated will adore meeting the sparkling original, certainly one of the greatest comic creations in 20th Century literature. AUNTIE MAME deserves a special place on the shelf of any one who enjoys a range of humor that runs from sly giggles to screaming laughter. Strongly recommended.

Auntie Mame was first published almost fifty years ago, and although clearly describing times 75 long past (the book sees Mame through the twenties, the Depression and the War,) it is still charming, witty and absolutely hilarious. Far, far better than the embarassing movie starring Lucille Ball that was made from the book.
The story is told in the first person by Patrick Dennis who is adopted in 1928 by his Auntie Mame after being orphaned. Although a flapper enjoying New York society in the Roaring Twenties, Mame makes Patrick an integral part of her life, in her own inimitable and quite irrepressible way.

Unlike most post-War fiction, I think this book more than stands up to the passage of time. Perhaps because Patrick looks back at his childhood, which, even in 1955 (when the book was written) was part of the far distant past, the story is fun, rather than dated. And, certainly, contemporaneous readers have no trouble identifying with the excesses of the twenties, the financial desperation of the thirties or the terrors of the wartime forties.
This book is fun and a good, enjoyable read. I highly recommend it.

I remember checking out this book from my hometown library while in high school. Never have I read a book that made me laugh out loud! I remember my wife and I were laying in bed one evening after putting down our three children. I picked up this book and started reading. I was laughing outloud so much my wife had to jab me in the ribs to "pipe down! You'll wake the kids!" I would love to have a hardbound copy as my softbound copy is coming apart.

Since it was reprinted, the topic of Mame Dennis has crept into a lot of online reviews and conversations over cocktails. I recently got into a screaming match on an airplane over the topic of Mame's relevance today. Even some of the reviews on this site are less than flattering and I want to answer them all by suggesting that the authors (and readers) read the book again.

Mame is an icon, even today. She is our Alice in Wonderland all grown up, smarter, wittier and more interesting than Mary Poppins, and I wish that she had been sent to Oz instead of that Dorothy girl or allowed to poke around the back of C.S. Lewis' wardrobe. No other heroine of modern fiction would have kept the Japanese Ito in her employ, or stood up to such ugly anti-Semitism in polite New York society. She rallies behind a pregnant Agnes Gooch and looks after her nephew (and a whole lot of other children during the war) as few other figures might have; dominating four decades as no other could have, she knows the benefit of a good drink and the power of humour in bleak times. This book and its title character are as remarkable today as when the book was first released, and I daresay that she will be for a long time to come.

I've always been a fan of the Rosalind Russell film, Auntie Mame, and after recently watching the dreadfully sub-par Mame, starring Lucille Ball, I decided it was finally time to read the book and discover madcap Mame's true story for myself. This book is absolutely hilarious, hands-down one of the funniest, most charming books I've ever read. The Rosalind Russell film is a gem, but the book takes everything wonderful about the film and multiplies it about ten times over. The book is quite a bit more *cough* bohemian than what would've been allowed in a 1950's film. It isn't a straight, linear story - instead it's eleven chapters cover various episodes over the course of Patrick's life as he grows up with his rather unconventional aunt. This device helps make the book an extraordinarily fast read - as soon as one escapade is finished, you want to dive right into the next. Each episode is "framed" by Patrick reading about the "Unforgettable Character" in the Digest, prompting him to compare the Digest's Unforgettable Character with his own Auntie Mame. Patrick reminsces his way through life with Mame in the glittering Roaring Twenties, surviving the Great Depression, her marriage and widowhood, World War II, and my favorite episodes - Patrick's "punctured romance" with the snobbish Gloria Upson and Mame's "golden years" when she starts to long for Patrick to settle down and have kids. The heart of the story is Patrick's relationship with Mame - as he gets older he may get a little more frustrated with Mame's unconventional ways, but underneath it all the one thing that never changes is their love for each other. Auntie Mame is the perfect balance of laugh-out-loud comedy and heart-tugging, genuine emotional depth. HIGHLY recommended.

I have, of course, seen the film versions of this novel numerous times. The first of them has long been a favorite. Truth be told, however, I was really very surprised when I discovered that the book is really just as funny--if not more so--than the movie itself. (I find that funny movies do not, frequently, derive from funny books.)

At any rate, any fan of the film who enjoys reading will surely love this novel just as any devotee of the novel will no doubt adore the rather surprisingly faithful Rosalind Russell film version.

What really surprised me the most, however, was how incredibly *advanced* this book seemed. Outside of some rather historically obscure references, the book seems barely half of its nearly fifty years. Mame would no doubt be almost as shocking a character in today's society as she would have been at the time. That fact alone (and especially when combined with her delightful wit and charm) will make her an enduring character for decades to come, at the very least.

The story is told as a series of anecdotes about Mame--and even includes a few great ones which are not present in the film (giving enthusiasts of the latter even more reason to try the book.) Unfortunately, it's this manner of telling the tale which is really my only serious criticsm. Dennis relates his anecdotes mimicing Reader's Digest-style stories about "unforgettable characters." At the open of each chapter, he returns once again to this style--likening events in the life of his auntie Mame to similar (albeit less outrageous) ones in those of the nameless "unforgettable characters." It gets a bit tedious, however--this cyclical storytelling gimmick--and really doesn't add much, though I suppose it doesn't detract from it too terribly, either.

Regardless, it's still a wonderful story and well-worthy of a good reading or two. I know it's definitely one I'll savor for years to come.

This has always been one of my favorite books and I was so glad to see this new edition! Mame is such a charming character--flamboyant, eccentric, etc. The new introduction by Paul Rudnick is clever and witty, and the afterword by Patrick Dennis' son is sweet. I can't believe how many times I laughed reading this book all over again. She may be unconventional, but Mame has a heart of gold and an incredible sense of adventure and fun--there should be more people like her in the world!

What a strange feeling revisiting this book I first read in my youth. Back then, I was positive that this was one of the funniest, greatest novels of all time. Big and splashy and hilarious. I think I was overly influenced by the great Rosalind Russell film.

But reading it now, again as an adult, it's quite a disappointment to find that it's poorly structured and cartoonish. Mame really becomes more of a supporting character as the novel progresses, and Patrick (the author) takes center stage, becoming increasingly unlikeable in the process. By the end of the book, when he's mostly condescending of his fun-loving aunt, the whole affair has taken an extremely unpleasant tone.

The screenwriters of the film rightly placed Auntie Mame front and center, seeming to appreciate her more than Patrick Dennis has here. Though I hate to admit it, this is a book that has not aged gracefully.

This book was one of the most enjoyable books that I've read all year! Patrick Dennis created the most interesting, risque, fun, and suprising character with Auntie Mame. This book was a fast, easy, and enjoyable read to say the least. This is my first Patrick Dennis book and I have to say that before I even finished it, I had already went out and bought the sequel. For anyone who wants a little adventure in their reading, this is the book for you.

Although outdated, the story gives some historical insight into social mores of a time long ago, although Patrick Dennis (non de plume) seems dedicated to exposing the "hypocrisy" of the upper classes and moneyed individuals.

Sometimes the accounts are very lengthy but the charcterizations are quite funny and theatrical and make for great bedtime reading aloud for kids as the characters have great accents and strong characterizations. Auntie Mame is a great character - sophisticated yet naive (getting taken in by social fads and trends, trying to absorb the customs of other countries per her own perceptions), flouting social conventions--she is not on target but she is not boring.

Some of the negative reviews seem based on how the reviewers would like Auntie Mame to be portrayed rather than accepting that she is a character that someone imagined and wrote about. Yes, she does drink too much and she is vain and no, she is not perfect. This is fiction. Trying to guess which real life persona she is based on may be of interest in the history of writing but is irrelevant in reading a work of fiction.

I give it four stars simply because I enjoyed it so much both as a child and then as a father reading it to his child. Yes, it seems dated, there are some appalling racial sterotypes (e.g., Ito) and the writing is not always the greatest, but the characters (particularly the exaggerated ones such as Auntie Mame, Vera Charles, Beauregard's mother, the Upsons) are broadly written and very funny and enjoyable.