My Little Blue Dress

by Bruno Maddox

A troubled young man tries to fake the memoir of a century-old woman with hilarious and disastrous results as his lack of knowledge about turn-of-the-century rural England and about women in general causes him to fail. Reprint.

Genres: Fiction, Book Club, Novels, Contemporary

304 pages, Paperback

First published April 23, 2001

Reviews

[annakatrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 me off. but this one... such a beautiful and vulnerable denouement.

revelatory.

[Amber Womack]

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!

[Iris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wat een tergend boek. Toch een extra ster voor het totaal onverwachte einde.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 come to realize that she is, in fact, not writing it at all as the author doesn't seem to know much about history or life as a woman. It sounded like a brilliant satire of memoirs. Not so much.


I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but I know that I expected to laugh more than I did. I was definitely hoping for a clever satire, but honestly I found the whole thing kind of dull. I didn't feel engaged throughout the story. It was really difficult to get into. The young girl narrator wasn't believable, but it also didn't strike me as particularly entertaining, just kind of annoying.


It did pick up as the book went along. My favourite parts were when the "author" would put in notes to self along the way and forget to delete them. However, that did not happen nearly enough. Don't get me wrong, there were enjoyable sections of the book. The insane plot turns, like spending all of the war in a secret facility that didn't allow newspapers was genius and twentysomething author reflecting on his own life started out as amusing. I mean, the pieces of memoir interspersed with reflections on the modern era were marginally funny, but something about it just didn't grab me.


The satire itself wasn't exactly biting. There is experimental content and the form is intriguing and there are twists that made me smile. Not everything about this book was painful. It definitely got better as it went along, with little bits of the truth filtering out. I enjoyed watching the author's slow descent into madness (and by author of course I mean the fictional author of the fictional memoir who also just happens to be named Bruno Maddox). I enjoyed the tongue in cheek meta-ness of plot lines (spoiler: such as the fictional Bruno Maddox naming a character in HIS book Bruno Maddox). I'm a sucker for all things meta, what can I say? It's why I picked it up in the first place. But other than that, there just wasn't that much that intrigued me.


I'm glad I stuck through this book. I really hate putting books down once I've started, but it definitely wasn't my favourite. Not feeling for Bruno didn't help the matter. This review is all over the place which is actually kind of fitting for this particular book. I don't know how to describe this book other than saying that it's oddly experimental; I don't think there's much more that I can say.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

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!

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 summary of the book.

Kinda gives it away don't you think people?

My friend said that the book read like it had been thrown together. She is right. It does. And once you finih the book you understand why. Getting there though took a little effort. I usually read a book in a couple days tops unless there is something going on where I can't get book time in. This book took me a couple weeks becaue I just wasn't excited about it and I didn't rush back too it at every available moment.

[Vanathi]

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

[Bets · Rating 1 out of 5]

I confess that I bought this book because of the cover. I knew nothing about it, nothing about the author. I enjoyed it until I got about half way through. By the end, I think it is safe to say that I detested it. Clever? Nah... lame would be a better description. I still like the cover, though.

[Kira Henehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book sometime in 2012. But I'm writing this review now because this book lives rent-free in my brain. The conceit is good. It's been 12 years and I still think about it all the time, so I figured that deserved a 5 star rating and a review.

[Sharon Falduto]

What a weird little book. Starts out, it's an old woman, telling her memoirs, it's kind of written in a funny way, enjoyable little story, okay. Then about, oh, half way through, it kind of evolves into the woman who has supposedly been writing her memoir in the present, and how her neighbor, Bruno Maddox, is taking care of her. And Bruno Maddox is this tortured genius and Bruno Maddox is realizing his true self and Bruno Maddox this and Bruno Maddox that. And then it's more the story of HIS life told by this old woman. The book breaks the fourth wall and addresses me as "reader," okay, I've seen that done, it works okay--and then the author/old woman decides to stop calling me "reader" and begins addresses me as "Michelle." She's/he's just decided my name is Michelle.

This is the sort of weird postmodern thing that people seemed to do in the 1990s. The book was copyright 2001, so written before 9/11, I'm sure, it's just the sort of thing you don't do anymore. Not sure the ends justified the means, here.

[Maureen Neville · Rating 2 out of 5]

While there are some moments of possibly profound insight in this story, it is a hard book to recommend. The book starts off in one narrative direction and then veers off in another. In terms of being funny there were some humorous points, however these were sometimes overshadowed by one of the central characters being very neurotic -- this central character displays both redeeming and maddening aspects in his actions.
Also, oddly it's the kind of book that after finishing it, the story possibly makes for discussion as its subtext of angst and befuddlement is perhaps what some people actually do struggle with in regard to relationships. How the writer went about depicting this is strange -- in some ways a method of circumlocution...

[Regan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Um.

Well.

I'm really glad I only paid $1 for it at a book sale.

I mean, it's OK. Good, not great.

I'm always made uncomfortable by a supposed piece of fiction that has a primary character sharing a name with the author. I'm also often put off by extremely self-indulgent work, at least when it comes to reading published fiction. In your blog, sure, be as self-indulgent as you wish. But if I'm buying a book, keep it to yourself.

The dust jacket is a lovely shade of turquoise. In the author's bio, he's pictured eating sushi. Those are probably the best two bits, imho.

[Olivia Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half of the book was really interesting but there’s so many plot holes and forgotten elements, plus a total format change on the second half. I couldn’t bring myself to care about this old woman who kept repeating how old she is, while the author writes himself into the story. Plus there’s this whole plot that’s trying to be super meta about the author creating this memoir of a fake old woman under a time crunch or something. This is lame. I had to stop reading.

[Dorina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up at a local library sale. I liked the cover. Yup. The cover. So, that said, I am at a loss to tell you how I feel after reading this book. Started well with a character I liked. About halfway through I started to skim a bit. I think it was well written and unique. I won’t say anything more. Read it for yourself and decide. I am still deciding and maybe that’s the point, it’s staying in my head.

[Joyce · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't remember what this book was about, but I do remember how I felt about it. I hated it. I couldn't believe it won some prize (as was claimed on book cover). It was the worst book I've read. I tried to finish it but it was so bad I couldn't.

[Caz Songhurst · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just can't finish it now the format has changed so much...have read the reviews so am not going to bother and I find that so hard to do but it's so boring after the fist half...

[Jane Fujiwara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had potential. And minus 20 pages it would be fantastic. But man it became a painful read...

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost entirely hilarious, but wears out its welcome by the end (otherwise this would have been 5 stars all the way--I just loved the premise, once I realised what it was).

If you're a fan of Miss Daisy Ashford's The Young Visiters you will probably enjoy this one very much as well, for different reasons. It's definitely the most searing portrait of desperation I remember ever having read, in an extraordinarily amusing way.

Don't want to give much away, since to say almost anything would indeed do just that, but I can certainly safely say that the narrator is rather immediately recognizable as unreliable, and the fun is gradually finding out why and then going along with it.

Edited to add I’m shocked so many readers didn’t seem to get the unreliable narrator immediately, and have been thrown by the progress of the book as a result. It seemed, well, obvious to me.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).

[Mikhaila Pamintuan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was given to my by a friend. Makes me excited whenever that happens. It's like a chocolate that you didn't choose. You are anxious about the flavor you're about to taste.

When I opened the book and started reading the story. At the first few chapters alone, I was extremely pleased! It was a tale that is very intriguing. You get hooked at whatever's happening at the life of the girl. But as the story builds up... In came the author as a character. Then the unexplainable reason on how on earth have a woman nearing her 1 hundredth year could be left alone. The negligence baffles me! First, she was discovered unaided! Next she was left alone a couple of hours in a day without care.

I was at the brink of putting down the book unfinished. But no. I'm not like that. I finished the book. I was glad that was over. It could've been better if he sticked to his first plot rather than his downward twist.

[Nancy Lewis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Even though the protagonist is a woman, this novel is so obviously written by a man.

Exhibit A (p.45): (An internal monologue about why she wasn't attracted to her boyfriend) Was it me? I would wonder most nights, lying anguished on my bed in bra and panties... This scene was set in the early 1900s, when corsets, not bras were in popular use. She was probably also wearing bloomers, not panties. And why would she remark on her underwear anyway?

Exhibit B (p.77): (At a bar with people all around) I wrenched apart the front of my blouse and invitingly cupped my breasts. "Don't leave." Sorry. Women just don't do that.

Exhibit C (p.79): (Speaking about the morning routine) ...get to feet, pull on bathrobe... go to bathroom, sit down, urinate, stand up... Only a man would think that sitting down was an extra step.

Anyway. This one goes in the rejects pile.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 premise I gave it another pity star.

[nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the end, the twist and what a completely desperate, funny, grand gesture it is. I mean, if a guy fabricated the memoir of a 100 year old french woman and frantically typed it up just to win me over? I like to think I'd give the guy a second chance.

Really self-conscious writing, like Dave Eggers before I knew who Dave Eggers was. But less earnest and with a better sense of humor about himself.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

(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.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Meagan · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

[Annemariem · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book seems to be the memoir of a 100-year-old woman, who has pretty much seen everything during her lifetime. However... the memoir quickly goes off-track and becomes decidedly un-womanly in tone. In addition, her caretaker - named Bruno Maddox - plays an increasingly important role in the book. Is this memoir entirely what it seems or does Bruno Maddox have a game of his own to play? And perhaps a book of his own to write?

[Laurence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aangezien het op de achterflap staat, verklap ik niets als ik zeg dat de schrijver zichzelf in het verhaal schrijft. Op zich heb ik daar niets op tegen (Stephen King doet het meesterlijk in de Donkere Toren-cyclus!), maar het is jammer als het verhaal voor het "inschrijfpunt" interessanter is dan erna. De ontknoping maakt dit boek toch de moeite waard en toont hoe goed dit verhaal eigenlijk geconstrueerd is. Speciaal boek.

[John Tobelmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off very funny and then got a bit dark and then had a surprise ending. You may like it and maybe more than I did. The story of a 100 yr old English women living out her last years in NYC. Born Jan 1, 1900 in rural England, the woman moves to France in the roaring 20s, then back to England during WWII. Then off to Wisconsin in the early 50s and then to NYC where she mixes with Bob Dylan, the Beatles and Andy Warhol.

[Esther Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this several years ago and hated it the moment the story took that notorious plot twist. I get that the author was trying to be smart or unique with this decision, but it just didn't work for me. I found it pretentious, and the whole story the author made you invest your time on was just flushed down the drain.