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My Little Blue Dress
by
Bruno Maddox
There's a reason this memoir of a 100-year-old woman's sun-soaked rural childhood is not at all what it seems. In Bruno Maddox's warmhearted comic novel it is soon revealed why a young man who knows very little about history and even less about being a woman attempts to improvise an old woman's autobiography in a single frantic night, and why he fails. A love story, a murd...more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
March 26th 2002
by Penguin Books
(first published April 23rd 2001)
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the author wrote himself into the story. That tells me right there that he knew his book was crap.
This post first appeared on my blog The Backstage Book Lover
You know those books that you really want to like? You read them and they're not really holding your attention, but they held such promise that you keep going, telling yourself no, I SHOULD like this book; it WILL get better. This was one of those books. I picked it up at the library because I loved the premise. It's supposedly a memoir written by a hundred year old woman who was born on the first day of the last century, but slowly you...more
You know those books that you really want to like? You read them and they're not really holding your attention, but they held such promise that you keep going, telling yourself no, I SHOULD like this book; it WILL get better. This was one of those books. I picked it up at the library because I loved the premise. It's supposedly a memoir written by a hundred year old woman who was born on the first day of the last century, but slowly you...more
I don't even know how to describe this book. It really bugged me in the beginning. A five year old that talks like a 20 year old. Don't think so..
The book is more bareable now that I am half through it and chicky is in her 40s or something...
ok. Now that I have finished the book...
I gave it 3 stars, but honestly the book was only ok. I didn't like it, but I didn't dislike it either. Part of my disdain could be from reading what are supposed to be reviews on here, but end up being more like a su...more
The book is more bareable now that I am half through it and chicky is in her 40s or something...
ok. Now that I have finished the book...
I gave it 3 stars, but honestly the book was only ok. I didn't like it, but I didn't dislike it either. Part of my disdain could be from reading what are supposed to be reviews on here, but end up being more like a su...more
Jul 28, 2011
Vanathi S
added it
When I first read this book some 6 years ago, I could not tell whether I liked this book, or intensely disliked it. So I passed it around to a few of my friends, and the thing is, none of them could tell me whether they liked it or not either! It's rather perplexing isn't it! But based on the impression it's left on me, and the number of times I've recommended it to friends, I've decided that I like this book, or at least, that this must be a very accomplished piece of literature. :D
2 likes · like · see review
I loved, loved, LOVED the beginning of the book. But after a certain point, the book turned from a whimsy memoir into self-promotion for the author. I forced myself to finish this book, in spite of my new-found loathing for Bruno Maddox, and was not impressed. I feel that if he would have kept the original format and tone he started with, the book could have been great. Instead, it was just a heaping pile of ink-splattered pages.
(Disclosure--the author is a friend of mine.)
An increasingly preposterous joke, at the reader's expense but also for his benefit, that is barely kept going by an utterly hilarious narrator, MY LITTLE BLUE DRESS offers a great deal of amusement as well as some sharp insights into the world of publishing and the creative process. For smart readers, this is the perfect entertainment for a rainy afternoon.
An increasingly preposterous joke, at the reader's expense but also for his benefit, that is barely kept going by an utterly hilarious narrator, MY LITTLE BLUE DRESS offers a great deal of amusement as well as some sharp insights into the world of publishing and the creative process. For smart readers, this is the perfect entertainment for a rainy afternoon.
I really liked the first portion of this book, but it was a struggle to finish it. I even got to the point where I started skim reading to speed up the process. I kept hoping that it would become engaging again. What was going on was painfully obvious to me and I kept hoping there would be some interesting quirky turn in the story based on the reviews of the book. I WAS REALLY DISAPPOINTED!
the first half of this book was very good, but the second and third parts were absolutely horrible, the book in reality made absolutely no sense and was over all a waste of time reading. I would not recommend this book or autor for future reading! Stay very far away from this book! I really wanted to like this book, the premise at the beginning was good, but the author just could not do it!
Boring and amateurish. "Ooooh, look at me! I'm writing a quirky novel with a twist!" Please, spare us. I was taken in by the NY Times Book Review, Entertainment Weekly, and Publishers Weekly all liking it a lot--next time I'm unsure, I'll remember to check on Goodreads first!
Aug 06, 2011
Amber Womack
added it
OK this book was just SO WEIRD! I absolutely adored the first half and then the whole thing shifted. What was the blue dress about!? Was she a time traveler? It's like the author puts forward all these mysteries, but never explains them! Aagghh!
I will warn you that the format of this book is a little experimental, but that's all I can say without risking giving too much away. I didn't find it hard to put this book down, but then every time I saw it I wanted to pick it up again and find out what was going on.
adult fiction. inane satire that is unfortunately also annoyingly self-congratulatory. I got through most of it only to lose patience at the end (so many pages of "I'm old, look how well I can write! I'm old, look how well I can write!") Sheesh.
One of the weirder books I've read; experimental and very disjointed, but some great little scenes. The first time I read it, it drove me crazy, but I've gone back to it since...so I guess I would call it interesting at the least.
Another one that thinks it's far cleverer than it actually is. Attempts an At-Swim-Two-Birds sort of multilayering and fails. Reads instead like a bright undergraduate showing off.
It really freaks me out how many people on here don't "get" this book...if you like unexpected twists, on the level of form as well as content, mixed with an empathetic and emotional narrative, don't read any more of these reviews just give it a chance!
I'm finding the fragmented narrative and multiple storytellers irritating and disjointed. Reminds me of the 90s, in a bad way.
there was a moment in my life when i declared this to be "my favorite book of all time."
i can be a bit overenthusiastic at times, but at the time, it was so true.
cruel and sardonic for a lot of the narrative (and you know i hate that), but when the real voice of the narrator revealed itself, i was floored.
i remember at the time reading so many novels that pooped out the end--super engaging and epic four the first three quarters, but blowing it during the crucial final fourth. it was pissing m...more
i can be a bit overenthusiastic at times, but at the time, it was so true.
cruel and sardonic for a lot of the narrative (and you know i hate that), but when the real voice of the narrator revealed itself, i was floored.
i remember at the time reading so many novels that pooped out the end--super engaging and epic four the first three quarters, but blowing it during the crucial final fourth. it was pissing m...more
I picked this book at the library because I liked the cover. I can't quite decide if it was worth the time.
Interesting in the beginning, than just literally made my head hurt. Not an enjoyable experience.
Unlike most reviewers here, I thought this book got better rather than worse the further along I got. And I didn't think it was LIKE any other book, which to my mind is a great thing. And I thought the dissolution of it all was super clever.
One of the weirdest books I ever read. Can't say I'd recommend it, per se. But the cover's great.
Somewhat annoying - lots of reading to do for an anticipated punchline.
May 15, 2010
Sara
added it
read for bookclub, October 2001. I honestly don't remember this book.
So... this book started out with a really good premise: a twenty-something guy has to write the memoirs of a hundred year old woman even though he's not a woman and has no idea about what happened in the last 100 years.
The premise is clever and is fairly enjoyable... for the first 150 pages. Unfortunately, it goes on for another 150. As clever as it is, it gets real boring real quick and makes you almost despise Bruno Maadox by the end.
I would have rated it one star but due to the clever premis...more
The premise is clever and is fairly enjoyable... for the first 150 pages. Unfortunately, it goes on for another 150. As clever as it is, it gets real boring real quick and makes you almost despise Bruno Maadox by the end.
I would have rated it one star but due to the clever premis...more
Really did not like this book. If I could give it negative stars I would. I can't believe I read the whole thing.
A bit of a weird book.
Very surprising!
Craptastical after the first 3/4. Had to put it down and move on.
Otherwise, the first part is pretty good. :)
Otherwise, the first part is pretty good. :)
Worst book ever.
I thought this was... odd. At first I found it amusing to see all the glaring errors in the "memoir". When it shifted into a more recent "diary" of things, it took a few pages for my mind to make the shift as well; the transition could have been smoother, I think. I did like how, in the end, the reader gets the whole explanation for the memoir in the first place. Definitely an interesting debut; I'm curious to see what this author will come up with next.
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