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67th out of 117 books
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The Old Man and Me
by
Elaine Dundy
In The Dud Avocado, Elaine Dundy revealed the life of the young expatriate in Paris in all its hilarious and heartbreaking drama. With The Old Man and Me, written when Dundy was living in England in the early 1960s, she tackles the American girl in London, a bit older but certainly no wiser.
Honey Flood (if that’s her real name) arrives in London with only her quick...more
Honey Flood (if that’s her real name) arrives in London with only her quick...more
Paperback, 231 pages
Published
November 17th 2010
by NYRB Classics
(first published 1964)
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I enjoyed this book tremendously. Though the main character Honey/Betsy Lou is described on the blurb as plotting murder, and though she actually does take some action in that regard, this is an amusing book. I was reminded of Chick Lit, though Chick Lit is never this twisted.
Precis: Honey has lost her inheritance, and to regain it she need only kill the man who has it. So she changes her name to Betsy Lou, comes to London and worms her way into his affections. But things do not go t...more
Precis: Honey has lost her inheritance, and to regain it she need only kill the man who has it. So she changes her name to Betsy Lou, comes to London and worms her way into his affections. But things do not go t...more
Mad props to NYRB for reprinting another brilliant and wickedly funny gem from Elaine Dundy with a PERFECT cover illustration and a whip-smart, irresistible heroine whom you can't help loving even if you suspect she may be crazy as a loon. Honey Flood (or so she calls herself) is a bright young American woman, recently arrived in London with no money but a plan so far-fetched and diabolical it just might succeed. To get into the particulars would ruin the plot, so let's just say it requires the ...more
One of the most hilarious and witty books I have ever read. It's such a sweet surprise when you find a book written forty years ago with a style so relatable today.
"I was no femme fatale, no trained courtesan; neither a Lorelei, nor an enchantress, nor a witch. I had no feeling for,and absolutely no belief in, the extra-mystical powers of my femininity. I was (yes, indeedy, I still am) a plain ordinary American girl. All-right looking; all right-even good-looking, attractive when...more
"I was no femme fatale, no trained courtesan; neither a Lorelei, nor an enchantress, nor a witch. I had no feeling for,and absolutely no belief in, the extra-mystical powers of my femininity. I was (yes, indeedy, I still am) a plain ordinary American girl. All-right looking; all right-even good-looking, attractive when...more
Great book. With such a biting charm. And the character of the young woman is so wonderfully mercenary. Actually, there are a lot of not so nice characters in the book. But I still felt drawn in to their little stories, hang ups and foibles. And what a comeuppance! Did any of the characters really got what they wanted, or thought they wanted in the beginning? And I have to say, I did not guess how the main characters were connected. And the sentences just sparkled. A lot of little gems hiding in...more
The late and great Elaine Dundy is a very interesting woman, who lived near Book Soup and was a customer as well. Little did I know of her writing career till I read "The Dud Avocado" which is fantastic by the way. So her history is fascinating in that she was married to British theater critic great Kenneth Tynan and also wrote the first serious in depth biography on Elvis.
So of course "The Old Man and Me' would be of interest, but beyond that, it is quite a remarkab...more
So of course "The Old Man and Me' would be of interest, but beyond that, it is quite a remarkab...more
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I read this for a book club, my friend picked it out and I was prepared to hate it, but power through because I needed to. The story starts out weird, the characters are weird and completely unrelatable... then suddenly, the main character/narrator provides you with a little more detail and I couldn't put it down. Really, the whole time I read it I thought 'why isn't this a movie', the book reads easy and you can easily picture everything. I really enjoyed this.
Dundy's second book was also quite good. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as The Dud Avocado
Elaine Dundybut it was excellent nevertheless.
Elaine Dundybut it was excellent nevertheless.
Elaine Dundy is fantastic. There were about three pages where I thought she was trying a bit too much to be cute, but it was just about three pages. She creates these messy characters who start to fall into gossipy melodramas, but then suddenly there's all this sad brilliance and the story is something else entirely than it had seemed.
That said, this book made my tummy hurt.
That said, this book made my tummy hurt.
This book is fun. It's off-beat in all the right ways, dated and timeless at the same time. The author's note states that she wanted to "present an anti-heroine in response to all the anti-heroes so popular of the day [circa 1962]", and she does so perfectly. The main character is fascinating and hateful at the same time. Not quite forgivable, but entirely believable.
I was really hoping to love this book; the publisher's synopsis about "an early sixties London just beginning to swing" made it sound so attractive. But in the end, I thought the tale of Honey Flood and her quest to meet and win the affections of famous man-about-town C.D. McKee just fell flat. Dundy was a talented writer, but it seems to me she was trying a bit too hard to be cute and outrageous here. I wasn't charmed by Honey/Betsy Lou, or any of the other characters – except mayb...more
A good book to read if you want to dispel any notion that the early 60s were a simpler, nicer, kinder time. On the other hand, I loathed the main character, and stopped and started twenty times or more.
I finished the story only because Elaine Dundy writes well, and the edition is a delight to hold in your hand.
I finished the story only because Elaine Dundy writes well, and the edition is a delight to hold in your hand.
I have never read a book that I liked so much that had NO characters that I could identify with or even like. Regardless of my lake of empathy with the characters, the prose and plot are wonderful (perhaps a bit too predictable).
I don't feel like Young Women in the 60s - finding their independence, embracing a wordliness, etc. - get quite the fictional-action as the other sex. In that sense, I've enjoyed the 2 Elaine Dundy books I've read - they feel authentic, if a bit stylistically confused.
Witty, sparkling, hilarious farce. Few missed opportunities. Drags slightly in a few places, but that's apropos in its own way, as this is just the sort of book a queen would love.
This book was way to cool for me. I loathed the main character as well as writing style. Maybe that was the point? Either way, I am surprised I got to the end of it and relieved I no longer have to have this awful book in my life.
Elaine Dundy is one of my favorite discoveries of the year. This one isn't quite as superb as The Dud Avocado, but still loads of fun, in a freewheeling feminine spiral of self-destruction kind of way.
I won't go so far as to say that is was a dud avocado, but I will say that is was no Dud Avocado, if you know what I mean.
Read the forward on this one. So much better than Holden Caulfield, this protagonist...
I think I liked this better than The Dud Avocado, but it's a close call.
Vaguely amusing, but a sad, sad disappointment after the wonderful Dud Avocado.
boy do I wish she had written more....not to everyone's taste, but then what is?
Really compelling to read, sudden finish tho.
I might love this more than "The Dud Avocado".
Great fun to read. What a woman!
love her writing style.
Jessica
marked it as to-read
Loved 'The Dud Avocado'...
God, I love Elaine Dundy.
Biting humor, great fun
as good as the dud avocado--i am speaking to you for the very first time in my life without strategy.
I find it impossible to review Elaine Dundy's books because I enjoy them SO MUCH that all I want to do is implore you to read this in all caps times 100. I should temper that by saying Dundy has created a nuanced portrait of a young woman living the headless life of an ex-pat in 50's London/Paris perfectly. Her characters are infectiously likable even when they are being bitchy little monsters.
READ THIS.
READ THIS.
READ THIS to the 77th power.
READ THIS.
READ THIS.
READ THIS to the 77th power.
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Elaine Dundy (1921–2008) grew up in New York City and Long Island. After graduating from Sweet Briar College in 1943 she worked as an actress in Paris and, later, London, where she met her future husband, the theater critic Kenneth Tynan. Dundy wrote three novels, The Dud Avocado (1958), The Old Man and Me (1964), and The Injured Party (1974); a play, My Place (produced in 1962); biographies of El...more
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“Thanks for the hint," I laughed. "And thanks for the invitation too. Only I don't know if I can make it - " I stalled automatically, marveling at the strength of my reflex - the never-appear-too-eager one, for of course nothing would have stopped me.”
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“He hated so many people I hardly know anyone any more”
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