What fresh hell is this?
I stopped, dumbfounded. My grandmother was at my bedroom door. “What the hell are you doing?” she aske... read full description
I stopped, dumbfounded. My grandmother was at my bedroom door. “What the hell are you doing?” she aske... read full description
reviews
Sep 22, 2010
Marie
rated it: 
A few other reviewers have called Rothschild a "spoiled, rich kid." In reality, he was starved for unconditional love as a child (his mom dumped him with his grandparents when he was a baby), and any child starved of parental love is not rich or spoiled.
He grew up on the upper east side, raised by eccentric grandparents who did love him but didn't quite know how to show it all the time. For example, his feisty grandmother would ask him: "What have you done to deserve a More...
He grew up on the upper east side, raised by eccentric grandparents who did love him but didn't quite know how to show it all the time. For example, his feisty grandmother would ask him: "What have you done to deserve a More...
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May 23, 2008
Ron
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There's a lot to like in Rothschild's story about how he was raised by his elderly grandparents in an Upper East Side duplex apartment after being abandoned by his mother at birth--he's got a knack for storytelling, his affection towards his grandparents is obvious, and between his (pre-)adolescent acting out and the drama that ensues whenever his mother tries to work herself back into his life, there's plenty to hold your attention. But the memoir's emotional strengths derive from the situation
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Apr 07, 2009
Ciara
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i picked this up at the library because the cover design caught my eye & the front cover blurbs likened the writing to david sedaris, but a ridiculously welathy upper east side version of david sedaris. i was curious, so i pursued my curiosity. &...yeah, not much. very few similarities between this book & anything by david sedaris. first-person, kind of funny childhood stories by gay men are not all david sedaris-in-the-making, can we all just agree on that?
that said, it wasn't bad. More...
that said, it wasn't bad. More...
Mar 01, 2009
Beth
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This is the third in a string of gay male memoirs I've read recently. I think it compares favorably to both A Little Fruitcake and America's Boy. It struck me that Rothschild is quite a bit younger than both the other writers and also grew up in a much more cosmopolitan area than the other two and yet still suffered from similar social and family pressures related to gender and sexuality. His writing strikes a good balance between giving readers plenty of reasons to sympathize with him and plent
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Sep 16, 2009
Amanda
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I came across this memoir when I was interning in at a publishing house in 2007, read the manuscript on the train, cried like a baby, and insisted to the publisher that she should buy the book.
"Who are you?" the Publisher said.
Moral of the story: they didn't buy it, but Random House did, and thank God, because I was able to revisit it in real book form, two years later.
The book is a real-life memoir of Matt Rothschild (yes, of THOSE Rothschilds) who descri More...
"Who are you?" the Publisher said.
Moral of the story: they didn't buy it, but Random House did, and thank God, because I was able to revisit it in real book form, two years later.
The book is a real-life memoir of Matt Rothschild (yes, of THOSE Rothschilds) who descri More...
Sep 24, 2008
Daria
rated it:
I picked up this book completely at random at the bookstore. Sadly it was quite dissappointing. The collection of stories of young Matt's struggles through Upper East Side lifestyle were a bore to me.
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Sep 21, 2010
Lynann
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This book was actually written by my high school journalism professor, so I may be a bit biased, but I think this book is just fantastic. Though I think most memoirs are the same, all chronicling the story of some author's terrible childhood or awful upbringing, Dumbfounded is the honest and hilarious story of Matt's upbringing. From his mother leaving him with his crazy, over the top, Jewish grandparents on New York's 5th Avenue, to cross dressing and getting kicked out of all his boarding scho
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May 03, 2010
Hilary
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jul 16, 2009
Gwen the Librarian
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I really, really enjoyed this funny and heart-wrenching story of Matt Rothschild who grew up estranged from his mother, but lived with caring and eccentric grandparents in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The characters are brilliantly drawn. The episodes he shares are laugh-out-loud funny and also tragic as he struggles to better know himself and his circumstances.
Appropriate for teens as the subject matter is mostly childhood growing pains, but also to be enjoyed by adults for More...
Appropriate for teens as the subject matter is mostly childhood growing pains, but also to be enjoyed by adults for More...
Apr 05, 2011
Faith
rated it:
“Dumbfounded: Big Money. Big Hair. Big Problems. Or Why Having It All Isn't for Sissies.”
By Matthew Rothschild
Crown Publishers
New York, 2008
Family dysfunction combined with the road to self-discovery has never been so ludicrous and yet so witty at the same time. Matthew Rothschild really did get ahead of himself in his memoir, Dumbfounded. Growing up in the only Jewish family on Manhattan’s Upper East Side after the abandonment of his mother, Rothschild depicts th More...
By Matthew Rothschild
Crown Publishers
New York, 2008
Family dysfunction combined with the road to self-discovery has never been so ludicrous and yet so witty at the same time. Matthew Rothschild really did get ahead of himself in his memoir, Dumbfounded. Growing up in the only Jewish family on Manhattan’s Upper East Side after the abandonment of his mother, Rothschild depicts th More...
Sep 05, 2008
Jennifer
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Reviewed by Cat for TeensReadToo.com
So you think being raised by wealthy Jewish grandparents in a Fifth Avenue apartment, twelve years of prep and boarding schools, regular trips to FAO Schwartz, chauffeured limousines, or visiting Mom at her husband's Italian villa also means a life on easy street?
Then you haven't read Matt Rothschild's family memoir, DUMBFOUNDED.
In his memoir, Matt paints a lush and detailed portrait of life as a complex, awkward outsider More...
So you think being raised by wealthy Jewish grandparents in a Fifth Avenue apartment, twelve years of prep and boarding schools, regular trips to FAO Schwartz, chauffeured limousines, or visiting Mom at her husband's Italian villa also means a life on easy street?
Then you haven't read Matt Rothschild's family memoir, DUMBFOUNDED.
In his memoir, Matt paints a lush and detailed portrait of life as a complex, awkward outsider More...
Aug 31, 2009
catherine
rated it:
So you think being raised by wealthy Jewish grandparents in a Fifth Avenue apartment, twelve years of prep and boarding schools, regular trips to FAO Schwartz, chauffeured limousines, or visiting Mom at her husband's Italian villa also means a life on easy street? Then you haven't read Matt Rothschild's family. memoir, DUMBFOUNDED.
In his memoir, DUMBFOUNDED, Matt paints a lush and detailed portrait of life as a complex, awkward, outsider in a world that demands conformity and simple More...
In his memoir, DUMBFOUNDED, Matt paints a lush and detailed portrait of life as a complex, awkward, outsider in a world that demands conformity and simple More...
Dec 16, 2008
Garryvivianne
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This book was good! This was funny, & heartbreaking & so very honest. This poor kid who was abandoned by his jet-setting mom to be raised by his grandparents (rich, have everything grandparents). You can tell they were just thrown into this & had not much of a choice. The grandmother is funny & so irreverant, who encourages the kid to dress up as a woman & imitate people like Judy Garland & the grandfather who feels the kid needs to be out "with the boys". Amazing the kid turned o
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Jun 20, 2009
Melody
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This is one of the more enjoyable memoirs I've read in recent memory. When I closed the book, I wanted more. Rothschild (yep, one of those Rothschilds) was raised by his idiosyncratic, irreverent and truly lovable grandparents. He was, to put it mildly, a bit of a handful. Less a peek into the rich-and-famous-life and more an illustration of how to put the fun in dysfunctional, it's a book that avoids mean-spiritedness and honors love. Highly recommended.
Jan 30, 2009
Jennifer
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By the time I finished this book, I felt that it was less a memoir about growing up than a loving account of Rothschild's relationship with his grandparents. In particular, his Grandmother Sophie was a hoot. As he deals with realizing he's gay, being abandoned by his mother, and finding more in common with his grandparents than his classmates, Rothschild does a great job explaining why adolescence is a horrible time for most of us. Fun, sometimes heartbreaking, quite honest.
Sep 05, 2008
Sara
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I finished this book in one evening - because I quickly came to adore Matt Rothschild and his somehow light-hearted retelling of his confused upbringing. Overall, this book was a well-written, sweetly deprecating and hilariously honest account of the young life of a misfit rich boy.
I couldn't help but compare this book with Sean Wilsey's "Oh, the Glory of It All". I enjoyed them both, but I found that every time I set down "Dumbfounded," I picked it up again, More...
I couldn't help but compare this book with Sean Wilsey's "Oh, the Glory of It All". I enjoyed them both, but I found that every time I set down "Dumbfounded," I picked it up again, More...
Apr 27, 2010
Peggie
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jan 22, 2009
Julia
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This poignant yet periodically hilarious memoir of Matt Rothschild's is a must read. Matt chronicles his childhood and adolescence growing up during the 1980's with his wealthy grandparents in a nineteen room apartment on Park Ave in Manhattan, after being deserted by his mother as a baby.
Aug 07, 2010
Hendo
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Picked this up on impulse based SOLELY on the cover, but it turns out one of my fave authors (Jen Lancaster) recommends it. Very funny, very touching memoir about a Jewish boy growing up with posh Manhattan g'parents. Hysterical and a little heart-breaking. Very good, last week of summer, read. :)
Dec 08, 2011
Carol
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Think you've got problems? This will give you a whole different perspective on your life, especially parents. The author bends over backwards to give a fair picture of his mother. You've got to read this to believe it. Don't read it if you left your child-rearing to the Nanny.
May 04, 2011
Elizabeth
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I enjoyed this book! It covered the gamut it was hysterical, frustrating and sad all at the same time! The ending was a little disappointing I was hoping for a little more closure and a little more humor but then again it is a memoir so maybe there is a second edition coming!
Aug 17, 2010
Virginia
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Short story type chapters, nice for reading before bed. Since it was autobiographical, I really wished the author included up until the present - what is he doing now? How did it all work out? Instead, I had to google him.
Aug 03, 2009
Kathryn
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I'm totally into memoirs right now, so this one was right up my alley and enjoyable. The author finds humor in a somewhat tragic childhood while being raised by his very wealthy grandparents.
Oct 18, 2008
Susan
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I was underwhelmed by this memoir - intended to be funny, lighthearted, and still an inside look at a dysfunctional family, I felt this book was, instead, a lighthearted memoir about nothing especially difficult in particular. Left by his parents at birth, Matt grows up with his grandparents, a wealthy Jewish couple living in a huge, ritzy apartment on Fifth Ave by the park. Rough life, huh? He has friends - some years, more friends than other years - and lives, by and large, a very similar li
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Aug 18, 2011
Dana
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I think I'm addicted to reading memoirs, especially when they are written so well. This book is funny and heart-warming. I love the author's wit. I didn't think he came across as a spoiled child at all. The author is honest, self-deprecating and insightful for someone so young.
Feb 08, 2009
Diane
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Laugh out loud funny yet heartfelt, and I'm not Jewish or rich or male! I didn't want the book to end.
Jan 11, 2009
I heard an oral interp cutting of this book this weekend and it was hysterical. I can't wait to find it!
Jun 13, 2011
Danielle
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Hillarious! I kept having to explain while I was laughing out loud in quiet public places.
Jan 15, 2010
Began reading this book with our library's 5 day excerpt program. Very funny!
May 09, 2011
LaLa
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I was brought up in a home where we knew that money didn't make people happy - but if you've ever doubted that fact, this is the book for you. whoa
