Life Itself! [Paperback]

Elaine Dundy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2002

Elaine Dundy, a New Yorker born in the 1930s, is the author of The Dud Avocado, based on a year she spent in Paris. Here she presents her memoirs which begin in classy apartments on Park Lane before the Crash, include a wild and funny time as an actress in Paris and London, and reveal all about her disastrous marriage to theater critic Kenneth Tynan. Her literary and theatrical circle—which included Peter Finch, Tennesse Williams, Hemingway, and Gore Vidal—is presented along with poignant remembrances of growing up in America in the 40s, and a literary and theatrical life in Paris and London.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“[Dundy] pulls no punches in revealing details of the unpleasant side of her marriage to Tynan.” -- San Francisco Chronicle

From the Publisher

From the celebrated author of The Dud Avocado

Elaine Dundy was born in New York in the 1920s and raised on Park Avenue. After the war, she decided the stage was her true home; she headed first to Paris and then London, where she met Kenneth Tynan and cabled home: “Have married Englishman. Letter follows.”Self–invented, divorced from their backgrounds “we looked on each other with absolute certainty that nobody quite like us had ever existed.”They had a daughter, and Elaine gave up acting, but although their marriage was intoxicating, it was far from easy. The successful publication in 1958 of her first novel finished off the marriage. But it was the opening of a new world of writers for Elaine Dundy, including friendships with Tennessee Williams, Ernest Hemingway, and Gore Vidal. She went on to write biographies, including the story of her friend Peter Finch (Finch, Bloody Finch), and then surprised everyone with a groundbreaking biography of Elvis Presley and his mother — Elvis and Gladys.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860495583
• ISBN-13: 978-1860495588
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,080,299 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The rich are different, July 29, 2002

By 

D. P. Birkett (Suffern, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Life Itself! (Paperback)

I came to this soon after reading "Breaking Clean" so it suffered by comparison. What makes an autobiography into a compelling story is very often the struggle against adversity. It's not Dundy's fault that she was born to inherited wealth but it takes away a vital ingredient. (She never tells us exactly how much money she had, which would have been interesting, although giving uncensored details of her sex life).
She did manage to create some adversity for herself to struggle against, by drinking and drugging and by marrying Kenneth Tynan. The story of the Tynan marriage is the centerpiece of the book. Of course Tynan's writing was a a theater critic and the work of even the greatest theater critic is necessarily ephemeral. He also achieved fame by his personality and was in that category of well-known for being well-known. Her own artistic achievements were three novels, one of which was a brilliant best-seller "The Dud Avocado" and two celebrity biographies (Peter Finch and Elvis Presley).
Aside from the Tynan marriage most of the rest is life-style-of-the-rich-and-famous stuff, with many anecdotes about celebrities she has known that are interesting (and some were very interesting to me) if you are already curious about some of these people. For example she was close to Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, and was present at a meeting of Hemmingway and Tenessee Williams.

4.0 out of 5 stars Creative Survivor, September 5, 2009

By 

Books McGulligan (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Life Itself! (Print on Demand (Paperback))

I love Dud Avocado and the Old man and Me and Ms. Dundy's life was purely amazing based on the famous people she knew and befriended alone. There are many anecdotes that I want to remember and lessons too. Stay sober for one, keep working on art, don't give up and love well. There is an enormous, enormous sadness that she does not hesitate to share, she survived to share it with us and if we happen to have similar habits we understand a bit more about what is the right thing to do, in a sense this is a self-help book besides a phenomenal celebrity read. She was befriended by many brilliant artists from the mid-century. I am grateful I made the effort to acquire this book and read it.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Imerse yourself in this great story., June 4, 2008

By 

M. Johnson "Tea Lover" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Life Itself! (Paperback)

This is one of those books it is hard to put down, because the story is well written and her life was very interesting. I highly recommend this book.