Title: Auntie Mame
Author: Patrick Dennis
Published: 1955
My edition: Broadway Books Paperback 2001
Purchased From: Strand
Pages: 299

Synopsis (from Strand): The world’s most beloved, madcap, devastatingly sophisticated, and glamorous aunt, Mame is impossible to resist, and this hilarious story of an orpahned ten-year-old boy sent to live with his aunt is as delicious a read in the twenty-first century as it was in the 1950s.

I read this because: I saw the copy that my friend Jon was re-reading, and it looked like just the sort of thing I would like too.

My thoughts: I adore Auntie Mame. I can’t believe I had never heard of the books, the movie, or any of the stage adaptations. Thank goodness I’m no longer in the dark. It’s an extremely fun book, and very witty. Auntie Mame is one of the most memorable and likable characters in literature. She’s fabulous, ridiculous, charming, and mischievous. Reading this book is a treat. It’s a great book to read at any time, but would be a particularly good one to read while traveling, or anytime you want a lighthearted (but still smart), funny book to make you smile.

Follow up required: I’m looking forward to reading the other Auntie Mame book: Around the World With Auntie Mame. I am also incredibly excited to see the movie version with Rosalind Russell, which I’m watching later tonight with a few friends.

You might like this book if you like: P. G. Wodehouse

Links to purchase: IndieBound, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Book Depository, Strand

My favorite passage:

By one o’clock there were more than a hundred and twenty relatives milling around Peckerwood, all talking, and all talking loud. Mrs. Burnside indicated her disapproval of all this with a fanfaronade of flatulence. (page 70)

I list all my books purchased each month in my Polysyllabic Spree posts, but I’m so excited about three of my new book purchases that I must post about them now. :)

The first is Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks (not to be confused with Tony Hawk). This is next up on my list of travel memoirs about Ireland. In my experience, humorous travel memoirs are always best. On the back of the book, Tony Hawks was likened to Bill Bryson and Dave Barry, two people who take funny very seriously, so that’s promising. It was recommended to me by one of my Mom’s friends, who read it before she went to Ireland.

The second is Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis. I’m not sure how I was never really aware of Auntie Mame, because it was published in 1955 and has pretty much been extremely well loved by many since then. It was also a play, a Broadway musical, and a movie with Rosalind Russell. Shameful, really, that I was so in the dark about Auntie Mame. But anyway, I could tell by the cover, the title, and the fact that my friend Jon-With-Wonderful-Taste is reading it makes me confident that this will be a book that I adore. It’s also a bit Wodehouse-esque, which can only be a spectacular thing.

The third book is Beatrice and Virgil, Yann Martel’s new book. I was able to score a review copy at Strand yesterday, and I’m so excited to read it. I called my friend Laura yesterday to tell her that I just saw online that Strand has review copies in, and did she want me to pick her up a copy too? Her reply pretty much sums up how I feel too: “I just got goosebumps!”

So many great things to read, so little time!