12/25/2022 0 Comments Auntie mame tunes![]() ![]() So it’s a good old-fashioned classic American episodic narrative, driven by character, a kind of Huck Finn for WASPS. In each one some complicated situation arises that threatens to bind Auntie Mame and Patrick to it inextricably, until a combination of chance and pizzazz brings about a triumphant conclusion. The book progresses as a series of escapades delivered chronologically as Patrick grows up. ![]() We love Mame because she does love Patrick, even if she cannot resist manipulating him, and Patrick loves her too, although she exasperates him beyond measure. Needless to say, his father deeply disapproved of Mame, but had no other relative who could act as guardian. The narrative is written not from her perspective, however, but from that of her young nephew, Patrick, who comes to live with her from the age of ten onwards when his conservative, uptight father dies. ![]() The comedy of Auntie Mame arises from the mismatch between what she is and what she thinks she is, and the performance she puts in to try and cobble the two together. This is a fine introduction to Auntie Mame, a New York society woman, progressive in her thought (wedded to extravagantly loopy ideas), able to turn her hand to anything with chameleon grace (old school drama queen entranced by the idea of herself in many and varied guises) and with a heart of gold (the saving grace that makes her endless scheming and self-delusions tolerable). Now Penguin have re-issued it with a plaster pink cover featuring a bejeweled and black-gloved hand, with a cigarette in a long holder balanced between the fingers. It didn’t prevent me from enjoying it, but it was the kind of book I wished I’d saved up for a rainy day.Īuntie Mame is apparently an American classic, as it went on to become one of the bestselling books of its day and then one of the top ten Broadway shows of all time. But I read it at the wrong moment, really, because it was comfort food and at the time, I was in no need of it. Only I have to make an exception for the book I’m going to tell you about now, Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis, because it was too funny and entertaining not to mention at all. Once I’ve finished it, and maybe read a couple more books, and several weeks seem to have slipped past, then I’ve forgotten all the things I wanted to say and my heart’s not in it any more. When I’m in a book, I’m full of enthusiasm for talking about it, and able to see all kinds of significant details. I’m going to make it a rule that I only review books immediately after reading them. ![]()
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