Reviews

Sometimes this seemed so dated and unsubtle, I wondered why I was reading it. But the writing is so very slick, the dialogue in particular is such fun, that this reader was still swept away 70 years after it was written. It's easy to see how its original audience kept it it at the top of the Bestseller lists for over 2 years. Then by the end of the year following publication it was on Broadway and became one of the most popular non-musicals of all time. The subsequent TV show plus 2 movies make sense too- so many passages felt written for Lucille Ball. But it is the historical sweep, covering the 2 decades from the Crash to post-war Indian independence, that made it work for me today. Trail-blazing, exotic Auntie Mame has no truck with the out-of-date attitudes around her, even if the writer is perhaps still a little bit entrenched in some of them (especially when it comes to creating comedy out of stereotypes in a cast of women which include the gold-digging Brooklyn prostitute, the spurned and spoilt fiancee, the anxious spinster, the angry and flatulant prospective mother-in-law etc etc. Liberal and outspoken Mame is happily rather more inspiring.) Perhaps reading the author's mini-biography would give better context as a foreword than an afterword- his own life's challenges and the various ways he reinvented it made for a fascinating read.

lastbraincell's review against another edition

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3.0

One can only imagine the chaos that would ensue if Auntie Mame and (Roald Dahl's) Uncle Oswald met.

beatrice0607's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

4.75

bohohohoh's review

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adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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