Una lectura descacharrante. Me he reído muchísimo.

Nos habla de cómo Patrick Dennis (el autor utiliza un seudónimo para escribir este libro) se queda huérfano a los 10 años y queda bajo la tutela de su tía Mame. Y la tía Mame es un personaje. De hecho, es un personajazo. Es una mujer loca, bastante inconsciente, hiperactiva, que puede llegar a sacarte de quicio... pero también es una mujer culta, generosa, valiente a su modo, y no discrimina a la gente por razón de religión, raza o sexo. Es imposible no quererla, porque es un torrente tal de pasión y vida que te arrastra con ella. La novela se narra a través de capítulos que cuentan distintas historias en las que se ve envuelta la tía Mame (y, de paso, nuestro protagonista/narrador), como si de relatos cortos se tratara, que tienen como nexo de unión su sucesión cronológica.

Es una novela divertidísima, con momentos sublimes, y que mezcla, además, varios tipos de humor: desde el más intelectual o de "humor culto", al humor loco y caótico, pasando por los sketches de vodevil. En definitiva, una novela que hace pasar un rato gracioso y entretenido que sacará una carcajada a más de uno.

"Madcap" is not one of my preferred literary styles, and it is Auntie Mame's default setting. So credit is due to Patrick Dennis for making me (mostly) enjoy a novel I was prepared to dislike.

Both a fun read and an engaging relic of another time. I'm excited to delve into the rest of the Dennis archive (and especially the archive re: Dennis himself, who sounds like quite the character).

It's cliche to say "the book is even better than the movie", but this is absolutely the case. Like Breakfast at Tiffany's, this collection of stories about a young man and his aunt rings true with its witty and sometimes piercing observations of life. I can't wait to read the sequel. . .

3.5 stars

When Dennis becomes an orphan at the age of 10, he is shuttled off to the New York City apartment of his, shall we say, eclectic Auntie Mame. Auntie Mame is not your typical auntie. She is dramatic and impulsive and bordering on wacko. She puts on personas like outfits depending upon her goals and on the needs of the time. While she doesn't make Dennis's life easy, she certainly keeps it interesting. As Dennis grows up under her watchful eye, she is constantly getting caught up in ridiculous schemes that always involve Dennis in one way or another.

This book! I didn't know anything about it when I bought it on sale so with my fresh eyes I must say I was a little startled by how forward thinking Auntie Mame is. I loved how she stood up for the downtrodden (the LGBT community, prostitutes, refugees, Jews - really, all those who can be scapegoated) even if her defense wasn't in the most conventional manner. I can imagine that it was rather shocking back when it was written, as it pokes fun at so many different kinds of people and parts are a bit racy. The writing is witty with occasionally hilarious slapstick-type humor but sometimes it was too much for me - Auntie Mame was too much. Obviously she's supposed to feel like a caricature but it made it harder to loose myself in the story at different points. The narrative style is very clever, with Patrick our author himself telling the story and comparing his Auntie Mame to a far more traditional type do-gooder. Watching Mame turn from a southern belle to an Irish writer to an Indian maiden really did keep the plot moving along as her antics and charm help her weasel her way through all kinds of mishaps. While I was ready to be done by the end, it was definitely a unique story.

It was brilliant made me laugh out loud even though it was set back in the 30s and 40s it was still completely relevant. I'm so in love with Mame and I'm itching to make the red dress she's wearing on the cover

Mah...purtroppo se non avesse riscosso tanto successo non sarebbe arrivato con tante aspettative, rimaste deluse per la maggior parte.
Chiaramente essere Zia Mame tra le due guerre è più difficile che essere anticonformisti al giorno d'oggi quando è assolutamente un must, solo che non l'ho trovata così divertente, anzi piuttosto ripetitiva e noiosa nella maggior parte dei casi. Ovviamente mi risparmierò il sequel e nonostante questo dormirò senza angosciarmi sulla reale esistenza (o meno) della protagonista di questa storia.

Mame and her friends are faaaaaabulous, my dears! I love the sparkle & general atmosphere of this book which reminded me of a B&W "madcap comedy" movie like Bringing Up Baby or similar. A fun, light read that frequently made me giggle! This is not so much a novel, but rather a series of stories about Mame & her nephew Patrick. I didn't like the structural bits about the Reader's Digest Unforgettable Character - unnecessary. Also I thought the Mame stories weren't nearly as much fun after Patrick got older - the one about the British war orphans & the one about the Maddox Sisters - meh, not so much. I bet Mame didn't like Patrick so much when he got older, either. ;)