Dame Edna Everage : My Gorgeous Life [Paperback]

Barry Humprhies (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 5, 1994

Dame Edna Everage - housewife, megastar, investigative journalist, social anthropologist, children's book illustrator, chanteuse, swami, monstre sacre, polymath, adviser to British royalty, grief counselor, spin doctor, and gifted woman in the world today. The seeds of stardom were planted in Melbourne, Australia when her career as a performing artiste was strictly a cult following. In the 1960's, she did a series of one-woman shows and occasional stage and TV appearances in England with Barry Humphries. She spends her time visiting world leaders and jet-setting between her homes in Malibu, London, Sydney, and Switzerland. Her hobbies are having afternoon tea with Stephen Hwking and doing compassionate photography.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Is Everage just an average Australian housewife who stumbled into megastardom? Did she really strike a sympathetic chord with audiences at her one-woman shows just by talking about long-suffering husband Norm, three unusual kids, and one eccentric mother? Don't you believe it! Everage is every bit the clever creation of performer/impersonator Barry Humphries--from her trademark harlequin glasses to her astounding adventures which mock suburban life and then some. Popular abroad, she should take America by storm. This is "Dame Edna's" riotous story. Although the finer satiric jabs at things peculiarly Australian may slip by, the humor is quite universal--but with a decidedly offbeat twist that may not be for everyone. For circulating libraries.
- Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, N.J.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

British comedy-star Everage, n‚e Barry Humphreys, takes us little people into her confidence with this terribly earnest autobiography of an Australian housewife turned megacelebrity-- broad but successful buffoonery in the Monty Python tradition. Let's face it, Possums, not everyone is destined for megastardom--but Dame Everage makes if perfectly clear that the signs of greatness hung over her from birth. First, there was the mauve hair, which she modestly colored brown during her young- mother period in Moonee Ponds, the suburb of Melbourne where she grew up. Then there was the quick intelligence that made her captain of her class in school (``I'm sorry but I was''), and, of course, the ``spooky'' karma left over from her former lives as Joan of Arc, Mary Queen of Scots, Lady Macbeth, Florence Nightingale, and Ethel Merman--reincarnations that even the Dame's good friend Shirl is terribly jealous of. And of course the appearance of her stunning ``face furniture,'' the signature butterfly-shaped eyeglasses with the jumbo upsweeps at the corners, didn't hurt her determinedly cheerful image. As the good Dame breathlessly describes her marriage to dear Norman Stoddart Everage, a former department-store clerk destined for 24-hour prostate support; her struggle to find someone to raise her three children properly; her love-hate relationship with her envious bridesmaid and companion, Madge Allsop; and her first encounter with fame as winner of Australia's ``Lovely Mother Quest,'' it becomes clear that Everage's philosophy of simply getting up on a stage and giving her grateful audiences ``a gentle, blow-by-blow description of a housewife's life'' is the key to sold-out performances in London theaters and long, late-night phone conversations with her good friends Liz, Jackie, Marlon, Gore, et al. No Plom's (Poor Little Old Me) Disease here--though readers who haven't yet seen one of Edna's performances may be left a bit bewildered. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Dell (June 5, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044050614X
• ISBN-13: 978-0440506140
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,712,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for Dame Edna Fans!, January 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dame Edna Everage : My Gorgeous Life (Paperback)

If you love Dame Edna (and who doesn't?) and her rapier-sharp wit and wordly wisdom, this is the book for you. This autobiographical journey follows the housewife megastar from her sometimes painful childhood in Moonee Ponds to her meeting the man she would marry (and later purchase a new mechanical prostate for) to her meteoric rise to stardom (accompanied by her ever-present, though not always welcome bridesmaid, Madge). It's a laugh a minute, not unlike the Douglas Adams series, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. it will make you laugh out loud on public transport and guffaw during your tea-break (even though Dame Edna might disapprove of these slight breaches of etiquette). Pick it up, possums. It's likely the closest you'll ever get to this megastar.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this book, possums!, February 20, 2002

By 

Daryl B (Nashville, Tennessee United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dame Edna Everage : My Gorgeous Life (Hardcover)

I've been a fan of Dame Edna's for years and I have to say that this faux autobiography is one of the funniest books I have ever read. Starting from her humble beginnings (with mauve hair even then) we see our lovely Edna blossom into womanhood, marriage and motherhood---though she rarely has time to properly look after the kids because of her hectic and famous life. As an advisor to the rich, famous and royal (a spin doctor, in her words, to the Queen), Edna becomes a superstar in her own right---struggling with her troublesome childhood friend, Madge Allsop, who Edna lets us know, is a burden a good deal of the time! Edna deals with many dramas----her eccentric children, her husband with his desperate prostrate problem and the trials of being so easily recognizable to the general public. If you wanna read a book with a great deal of laughs, try to find a copy of this book. You won't be disappointed.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous!, July 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: My Gorgeous Life (Audio Cassette)

I purchased this book on tape for the listening pleasure of my friends and myself on a recent vacation. We have never laughed so hard! Since then, I've listened to it numerous times, and each time I pick up something new. Dame Edna is a true gem!