An Irreverent Escapade (Penguin Modern Classics) - Auntie Mame

Good: many stories/adventures in one book, overfilled with sophisticated vocabulary and historical/cultural references

Bad: should be accompanied with a dictionary and internet connection for additional reference

The Rosalind Russell movie is my favorite classic, which is why I read the book. The book is also a wonderful classic that weaves together rich imagination and elegant writing (my vocabulary has grown immensely).

a true classic, funny, fast paced, amusing and just a lot of fun. for all fans of the movie, you really should try reading the book. you won't regret it! and as for the movie, the one with Rosalind Russell is the one to watch, not the one with Lucille Ball.

What a zany story. The book seemed a little tamer than the movie starring Rosiland Russell, but nevertheless it is still entertaining. Some of the goings on differed from the movie, but wouldn't it be delightful to have Mame's joie de vivre?

Although different than the movie, a funny and very entertaining book. This book still holds up since1955 also 60 years ago. Everyone, I'm sure, wishes they had an Auntie Mame, I know I do! A wonderful read, I highly recommend.

this is a great book, a great play...movie...musical (Ok too). i did not know that it was a series of books, though. so i am now on the lookout for more of Patrick Dennis's books. by the way there was no problems with my order.

I read mostly out of curiosity, having fond memories of the movie made decades ago with Rosalind Russell in starring role. Magnificent writing and old memories warmed in recalling Auntie Mame's many escapes. Brilliant author.

A must have in any self respecting Queen's Library,I don't CARE if you've seen the movie,Rosalind Russell or Lucy version ,or even if you got to see Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur do it live ,you gotta read the original>

As a lover of "Auntie Mame" , ..even Bell Poitrine, ...I was really looking forward to enjoying this collection, never having read it before.
Sadly I was left more than a little unfulfilled.
To say the stories are HIGHLY contrived would be an understatement in the extreme. They all end with some bizarre "escape", often with nothing more than the clothes they are wearing...but the Rolls, the jewels and all the many, many pieces of luggage somehow miraculously manage to be there at the start of the next chapter, ...not to mention the money!
I feel my dissatisfaction was in many ways due to the fact that these are now "old" stories, ...humour and writing have certainly moved on, leaving these very much dated "period-pieces".
Sure there are "laughs", ....mostly coming from the lampooning of others, but Dennis works so hard for them, and contorts his plots to wring them out.
There is also as others have mentioned, quite a character change in "our" Mame, that doesn't mesh easily with the character most of us have come to know and love.

Some of the episodes are far less successful than others. The Russian sojourn being my least favorite.
There are also a few "digs" and phrases that would now be considered VERY un-PC. Again they are a product of the times in which this was written.
They are mainly racial, but also a few anti-gay jibes which seem at odds with the well known fact that Dennis, ...or to give him his full name, Edward Everett Tanner III, was not at all reluctant to dabble on the opposite side of the church when he felt like it. Which he apparently did, ....and OFTEN!

Dennis can at times amuse with his descriptions and deliberate exaggerations, but again, it's always highly contrived writing and hovers dangerously on the brink of snobbery. Everybody Mame tends to meet are really ugly, complete crooks,the very worst of snobs, social misfits, ...or just plain dirty.
Anyone NOT in one or more of those categories are hardly fleshed out at all.
He strives for an "easiness" of style, but I was left with the impression he was working too hard for the laughs to remain spontaneous after a while.
By the end it all became somewhat predictable, ...well for me anyway.

It's short and a very quick read. Get a copy only if you have previously read "Auntie Mame", ...or even just seen the movie; ...the divine ROSALIND RUSSELL OF COURSE! That "other" one is a soft-focus abomination!
However in the short while it will take you, do try to remember the times in which this was written,..and the prevailing social conventions in the late 50's.

Further adventures of Mame Dennis and her nephew Patrick, this time in Europe. The chapter on getting Mame ready to be presented at the Court of St. James alone is worth the price of the book, as is the visit of Beau's look-alike relative. This is a must for Mame fans, as well as a diverting antecdote to these suddenly troubled times.