Elaine Dundy, a New Yorker born in the 1930s, is the author of "The Dud Avocado", based on a year she spent in Paris. Here she presents her memoirs which begin in classy apartments on Park Lane before the Crash, include a wild and funny time as an actress in Paris and London, and reveal all about her disastrous marriage to theatre critic Kenneth Tynan. Her literary and theatrical circle - which included Peter Finch (about whom she later wrote a biography) and Tennesse Williams, Hemingway and Gore Vidal - is presented along with poignant remembrances of growing up in America in the 40s, and a literary and theatrical life in Paris and London.
Life Itself!: An Autobiography
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The exclamatory trill of the title alone, Life Itself!, suggests an exuberance to Elaine Dundy's mostly jaunty memoirs but also an insecurity. One of three Brimberg sisters from a wealthy New York Jewish background, her grand father, a Latvian immigrant, had invented a type of screw that made his fortune. Elaine's designs, however, were more on screwball fun. Drawn to the stage, she left America for Paris and wrote The Dud Avocado, published to popular acclaim in 1958, which described her salad days as a rich young socialite in the French capital. Fascinated with the sassy, vivacious actresses of pre-war Hollywood and their witty, charming, suave leading-men, along came Kenneth Tynan, enfant terrible of 1950s English critical journalism. He carried a fearsome, bullying swagger reminiscent of Dundy's violent and abusive father. While she wanted to be a character created by Tennessee Williams, she fell in love with men written by "Papa" Hemingway. So she married Tynan.
Life Itself! is most intriguing in its depiction of Dundy's relationship with Tynan, though the details of his sado-masochistic "Oxford practices" have been well documented elsewhere, in his second wife Kathleen Tynan's The Life of Kenneth Tynan. Life with Ken, a Barbie in her flurry of frocks and socialising, saw Dundy circulate with a gilded cast of associates, rarely dull and never unknown: Laurence Olivier, Orson Welles, Cyril Connolly, Marilyn Monroe, Henry Green and Gore Vidal make frequent appearances, as she commiserates with the wives of Peters Brook and Ustinov how hard it is for actresses with illustrious partners to find work. Once the heart stops bleeding, what redeems passages of flapper frippery are when the screwball wit kicks in, or she pauses to allow her writing the space it cries out for, and justifies when allowed. When she finally left Tynan, after a brutal attack and serial psychological sadism, she produced mediocre plays, reasonable journalism, fuelled by the pills and booze which nearly ended her life. Rescued by electro-therapy and a discovered love of Elvis (of whom she wrote a respected biography, Elvis and Gladys), one hopes she is allowed to live out her days in California with peaceful reflections and calmer syntax. --David Vincent
Review
Elaine Dundy has written her autobiography. It’s an absolute treat, by turns jaunty, pleasingly self-knowing and unexpectedly moving.” -- India Knight, Sunday Times June 24, 2001
“A wonderfully entertaining confession. Her autobiography depicts her anarchic pursuit of pleasure with unflinching candor” -- Patrick Skene Catling, Irish Times, June 23rd 2001
“Dundy has a superb memory for detail,” -- Kate Kellaway, Observer, June 2001
“Summer reading should be like summer wines; light, refreshing, insouciant. Life Itself! is all that and more. -- Richard Morrison The Times July 27, 2001: Summer Reading Choices
“what makes this book such a breath of fresh air is its complete lack of self pity.” -- Lynn Barber, Daily Telegraph, June 2001
“A wonderfully entertaining confession. Her autobiography depicts her anarchic pursuit of pleasure with unflinching candor” -- Patrick Skene Catling, Irish Times, June 23rd 2001
“Dundy has a superb memory for detail,” -- Kate Kellaway, Observer, June 2001
“Summer reading should be like summer wines; light, refreshing, insouciant. Life Itself! is all that and more. -- Richard Morrison The Times July 27, 2001: Summer Reading Choices
“what makes this book such a breath of fresh air is its complete lack of self pity.” -- Lynn Barber, Daily Telegraph, June 2001
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Joanna
Format:Paperback
... Elaine Dundy has two main claims to fame - as the author of The Dud Avocado, one of the best coming of age novels ever, and as the wife of the notorious enfant terrible critic Ken Tynan. Her descriptions of life in the fifties are fascinating, an eye opener into a decade that is often called grey or boring, though admittedly someone who couldn't Hemmingway and Tennessee Williams amongst her friends wasn't exactly leading your normal humdrum existence. I couldn't help wishing that she'd look back on her life with a slightly more ironical eye, she seems to have taken all those in her circle at their own estimation which makes her writing at times overloaded with a sickly sort of girlish hero worship, though when she keeps it simple, like describing her daughter she's truly touching and memorable.
Even so this book was a pleasure to read, she's a gutsy lady who's changed direction from actress to novelist to playwright to biographer and has had her share of problems but still seems to getting a lot from her life, I recommend it - though anyone who picks it up hoping for lots of salacious details about Key Tynan's fondness for flagellation is going to be pretty disappointed because though it's mentioned as it has to be since it was a major factor in the break-up of their marriage she doesn't dwell on it.
By Bookaholic
Format:Paperback
This memoir begins with Elaine Dundy's outwardly privileged, liberal upbringing, and brings New York in the 1930s and 40s vividly to life. Despite all her advantages however, Elaine was left emotionally scarred by an abusive father. She goes on to recount her adventures among the glitterati and bohemian circles of London and Paris, culminating in her stormy marriage to the brilliant, controversial theatre critic, Kenneth Tynan.
When her acting career stalled, Elaine turned to writing and created 'The Dud Avocado', a hilarious and moving novel partly based on her own experiences. The book was an instant bestseller, but couldn't save her marriage to Ken, a manipulative and troubled man.
Much of Elaine's most significant later work was in journalism, and she scored another success with 'Gladys And Elvis', a tender, revealing study of Presley's early life, and close relationship with his mother. It is also an homage to the people of the American South.
'Life Itself', published in 2001, is an introduction to a gifted writer whose own achievements have sometimes been overshadowed by the many famous people she knew. She doesn't spare us the details, and the book includes her memories of Tennessee Williams, Vivien Leigh, and a brief appearance by Marilyn Monroe.
At times this book may seem like one long celebrity roll-call, but nonetheless it is essential reading for anyone interested in the cultural life of the fifties, and beyond.
When her acting career stalled, Elaine turned to writing and created 'The Dud Avocado', a hilarious and moving novel partly based on her own experiences. The book was an instant bestseller, but couldn't save her marriage to Ken, a manipulative and troubled man.
Much of Elaine's most significant later work was in journalism, and she scored another success with 'Gladys And Elvis', a tender, revealing study of Presley's early life, and close relationship with his mother. It is also an homage to the people of the American South.
'Life Itself', published in 2001, is an introduction to a gifted writer whose own achievements have sometimes been overshadowed by the many famous people she knew. She doesn't spare us the details, and the book includes her memories of Tennessee Williams, Vivien Leigh, and a brief appearance by Marilyn Monroe.
At times this book may seem like one long celebrity roll-call, but nonetheless it is essential reading for anyone interested in the cultural life of the fifties, and beyond.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars
3 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Creative Survivor
5 Sep 2009
By Books McGulligan
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I love Dud Avocado and the Old man and Me and Ms. Dundy's life was purely amazing based on the famous people she knew and befriended alone. There are many anecdotes that I want to remember and lessons too. Stay sober for one, keep working on art, don't give up and love well. There is an enormous, enormous sadness that she does not hesitate to share, she survived to share it with us and if we happen to have similar habits we understand a bit more about what is the right thing to do, in a sense this is a self-help book besides a phenomenal celebrity read. She was befriended by many brilliant artists from the mid-century. I am grateful I made the effort to acquire this book and read it.
9 of 12 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
The rich are different
30 July 2002
By D. P. Birkett
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I came to this soon after reading "Breaking Clean" so it suffered by comparison. What makes an autobiography into a compelling story is very often the struggle against adversity. It's not Dundy's fault that she was born to inherited wealth but it takes away a vital ingredient. (She never tells us exactly how much money she had, which would have been interesting, although giving uncensored details of her sex life).
She did manage to create some adversity for herself to struggle against, by drinking and drugging and by marrying Kenneth Tynan. The story of the Tynan marriage is the centerpiece of the book. Of course Tynan's writing was a a theater critic and the work of even the greatest theater critic is necessarily ephemeral. He also achieved fame by his personality and was in that category of well-known for being well-known. Her own artistic achievements were three novels, one of which was a brilliant best-seller "The Dud Avocado" and two celebrity biographies (Peter Finch and Elvis Presley).
Aside from the Tynan marriage most of the rest is life-style-of-the-rich-and-famous stuff, with many anecdotes about celebrities she has known that are interesting (and some were very interesting to me) if you are already curious about some of these people. For example she was close to Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, and was present at a meeting of Hemmingway and Tenessee Williams.
She did manage to create some adversity for herself to struggle against, by drinking and drugging and by marrying Kenneth Tynan. The story of the Tynan marriage is the centerpiece of the book. Of course Tynan's writing was a a theater critic and the work of even the greatest theater critic is necessarily ephemeral. He also achieved fame by his personality and was in that category of well-known for being well-known. Her own artistic achievements were three novels, one of which was a brilliant best-seller "The Dud Avocado" and two celebrity biographies (Peter Finch and Elvis Presley).
Aside from the Tynan marriage most of the rest is life-style-of-the-rich-and-famous stuff, with many anecdotes about celebrities she has known that are interesting (and some were very interesting to me) if you are already curious about some of these people. For example she was close to Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, and was present at a meeting of Hemmingway and Tenessee Williams.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Imerse yourself in this great story.
4 Jun 2008
By M. Johnson
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is one of those books it is hard to put down, because the story is well written and her life was very interesting. I highly recommend this book.
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4.3 out of 5 stars
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