The Complete Book of Aunts [Hardcover]

Rupert Christiansen (Author), Beth Brophy (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2, 2007

Of all our blood relations, an aunt offers the most potential for uncomplicated friendship. The Complete Book of Aunts is an entertaining and touching exploration of aunts in all their guises and varieties, culled from real-life, literary and historical sources. Bewitching illustrations and anecdotes illuminate various aunt types: Bargain Aunts, Mothering Aunts, Damned Bad Aunts, and X-Rated Aunts. With stories and poems about famous or historical aunts, Christiansen and Brophy attempt to uncover what "aunt-ness" is.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

British journalist Christiansen (Paris Babylon) offers a curiously dry, encyclopedic look at the evolution of aunts (as in mother's and father's siblings) in this slender gift volume illustrated by Stephanie von Reiswitz. Starting with a short history of the aunt from her barest mention in classical literature to her finest hour in the Victorian era, the author moves into specific examples, from famous people raised or heavily influenced by their aunts (Tolstoy, Coco Chanel, Truman Capote, John Lennon) to famous aunts in literature (Aunt Leonie in Proust, the four Dodson sisters in The Mill on the Floss and Jane Eyre's malevolent Mrs. Reed). Alternating with brief bios of iconic and brand-name aunts are italicized testimonies by nieces and nephews of real-life aunts who've made a lasting impression on young lives, from places as far apart as Canada and Pakistan. Most interesting are the occasional in-depth accounts of heroic or eccentric aunts such as learned astronomer Caroline Herschel, whose relationship with her nephew defined her later years; and Aunt Jessie in Cecil Beaton's My Bolivian Aunt. Aunt Ginny, aka Virginia Woolf, earns a well-fleshed study, as does Aunt Jane Austen. (Nov.)
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About the Author

Rupert Christiansen was born in London and educated at King's College, Cambridge. After further study as a Fulbright scholar at Columbia University, he has written several books including PRIMA DONNA, ROMANTIC AFFINITIES, PARIS BABYLON, THE VISITORS and ARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH. In 1997, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Beth Brophy is the author of the novel MY EX-BEST FRIEND (Simon & Schuster, July 2003). She has been an adjunct professor of journalism at the American University and Georgetown.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Twelve; First Edition edition (November 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446580740
• ISBN-13: 978-0446580748
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1 x 7.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #840,126 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Well, it certainly is complete..., January 18, 2008

By 

D. Foote (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Book of Aunts (Hardcover)

I heard an interview with the author on NPR and thought this would make a good Christmas gift for my aunt - who's been like a 2nd mom to me.

Looking through it before wrapping it, I found a chapter on Aunts who seduce their nephews - which I thought might be kind of embarrassing for my dear aunt to read. I ended up giving it to her anyway - and just making it clear that there were aunts in the book that didn't remind me of her at all. :-)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An odd assortment, sometimes charming, sometimes disgusting, December 9, 2008

By 

Headin' Home (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Book of Aunts (Hardcover)

I also found this book a bit eccentric, but occasionally charming. The section on John Lennon's aunt was particularly moving. I bought this for a woman who was my mother's best friend (my mother was an only child) -- and was like a sister to her, even through her long illness. When Mom died, my "aunt" became like a second mother to me, and loved attending me when I brought babies home from the hospital, etc. Many of the descriptions of the special role of "aunt" sounded very much like her. Like another reader who commented, I also found the chapter on sexual-predator aunts completely unnecessary and almost didn't give the book to my aunt because she has tender sensibilities. But I told her it was worth reading "around" that chapter.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eccentrics Galore, September 3, 2008

By 

Tiger Lily "book store owner" (Athens, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Book of Aunts (Hardcover)

While I have to agree with the reviewer above, the rest of the book is absolutely charming in its fond celebration of aunties, both factual and fictitious. For everyone who has an aunt straight out of a storybook, buy two copies. One for yourself and one for her. This is a rare compendium, as there's not too many books on the subject!