Written by Teresa Knudsen. Published on Suite 101 November 27, 2009.
Republished January 11, 2012 on Sweet Suite Writings
Patrick Dennis Lightens Holidays With Humor
Patrick Dennis (1921-1976) is the pen name of Edward Everett Tanner III. This man, with a giant-sized sense of humor, kept America laughing, even through adversity, with his depictions of the end of the Jazz Age, the Depression, World War II, and the arrival of the baby boomers.
Though his popularity, wealth, and health declined in the 1970s, his work is once again read and valued. Here are three of his funniest books, with his vignette-style writing just perfect for reading during busy holidays.
Auntie Mame: An Irreverant Escapade (1955)
In this book, Patrick Dennis appears to merge fiction and fact, with his pen name also being the name of the lead character, Patrick Dennis, the young orphan who comes from Chicago to New York City to live with his Auntie Mame, a rich and beautiful flapper who is holding onto her youth and the Jazz Age for as long as possible.
In a series of mishaps mingled with hilarious prose, Auntie Mame battles many difficulties: the conservative banker in charge of Patrick's forturne, the loss of her fortune during the Stock Market Crash of 1929, her impoversihed situation, her marriage to a rich Southerner, her widow-hood, her fling with a phony poet, her serving as midwife to the poet's pregnant girlfriend, her efforts to serve as mother to British orphans, her meddling as matchmaker to her nephew, and her beginning the cycle again with Patrick's son Michael.
The Christmas scenes during the Depression are bittersweet, as Auntie Mame struggles with her low-paying job: selling skates at Macy's. Many modern readers, facing financial difficulties, will relate to Mame's despair. Yet, even in poverty, the quirky family of Mame and Patrick, along with the servants working for free, Ito and Nora, manage to keep the true sprit of the season. This is a great holiday book.
Around the World with Auntie Mame (1958)
Because of the success of Auntie Mame, readers wanted more of Mame and Patrick. In Around the World with Auntie Mame, the madcap adventures continue as Mame takes Patrick on a tour of Europe just before the outbreak of World War II.
Mame and Patrick travel from country to county, getting into trouble every step of the way, in scenes that some fans consider even funnier than the first book. Every pretentious institution, from royalty to high society, is skewered and brought down to reality, showing the clay feet of every honored tradition.
An example is the highly-esteemed royal garden party in London. Despite the exclusive and difficult process of getting an invitation to meet British royalty, the actual garden party doesn't impress Mame's nephew. Patrick observes, "...the only difference I could see between the Royal Garden Party and a giant rally at Yankee Stadium is that Yankee Stadium has rest rooms and it's easier to get refreshments."
The Joyous Season (1965)
This book is perhaps one of the most skilled of any book by any author, at blending absolutely hilarious writing with bittersweet depictions of a family on the rocks during Christmas. The narrator is an eleven-year-old boy, Kerry, and he begins telling about the Christmas events with these words:
"Daddy always said that Christmas is a joyous season when suicides and hold-ups and shoplifting and like that reach a new high and that the best place to spend the whole thing is a Moslem country."
Anyone reading the book might be inclined to agree, at least for this family. Like Auntie Mame, this book also combines sad situations, and tears, with sidesplitting humor. Many readers report laughing so much that other people in the room demand to know what is so funny, and also end up reading the book. The Joyous Season is wonderful winter holiday book.
References
Patrick Dennis' Books. Auntie Mame. Around the World with Auntie Mame. The Joyous Season
Though his popularity, wealth, and health declined in the 1970s, his work is once again read and valued. Here are three of his funniest books, with his vignette-style writing just perfect for reading during busy holidays.
Auntie Mame: An Irreverant Escapade (1955)
In this book, Patrick Dennis appears to merge fiction and fact, with his pen name also being the name of the lead character, Patrick Dennis, the young orphan who comes from Chicago to New York City to live with his Auntie Mame, a rich and beautiful flapper who is holding onto her youth and the Jazz Age for as long as possible.
In a series of mishaps mingled with hilarious prose, Auntie Mame battles many difficulties: the conservative banker in charge of Patrick's forturne, the loss of her fortune during the Stock Market Crash of 1929, her impoversihed situation, her marriage to a rich Southerner, her widow-hood, her fling with a phony poet, her serving as midwife to the poet's pregnant girlfriend, her efforts to serve as mother to British orphans, her meddling as matchmaker to her nephew, and her beginning the cycle again with Patrick's son Michael.
The Christmas scenes during the Depression are bittersweet, as Auntie Mame struggles with her low-paying job: selling skates at Macy's. Many modern readers, facing financial difficulties, will relate to Mame's despair. Yet, even in poverty, the quirky family of Mame and Patrick, along with the servants working for free, Ito and Nora, manage to keep the true sprit of the season. This is a great holiday book.
Around the World with Auntie Mame (1958)
Because of the success of Auntie Mame, readers wanted more of Mame and Patrick. In Around the World with Auntie Mame, the madcap adventures continue as Mame takes Patrick on a tour of Europe just before the outbreak of World War II.
Mame and Patrick travel from country to county, getting into trouble every step of the way, in scenes that some fans consider even funnier than the first book. Every pretentious institution, from royalty to high society, is skewered and brought down to reality, showing the clay feet of every honored tradition.
An example is the highly-esteemed royal garden party in London. Despite the exclusive and difficult process of getting an invitation to meet British royalty, the actual garden party doesn't impress Mame's nephew. Patrick observes, "...the only difference I could see between the Royal Garden Party and a giant rally at Yankee Stadium is that Yankee Stadium has rest rooms and it's easier to get refreshments."
The Joyous Season (1965)
This book is perhaps one of the most skilled of any book by any author, at blending absolutely hilarious writing with bittersweet depictions of a family on the rocks during Christmas. The narrator is an eleven-year-old boy, Kerry, and he begins telling about the Christmas events with these words:
"Daddy always said that Christmas is a joyous season when suicides and hold-ups and shoplifting and like that reach a new high and that the best place to spend the whole thing is a Moslem country."
Anyone reading the book might be inclined to agree, at least for this family. Like Auntie Mame, this book also combines sad situations, and tears, with sidesplitting humor. Many readers report laughing so much that other people in the room demand to know what is so funny, and also end up reading the book. The Joyous Season is wonderful winter holiday book.
References
Patrick Dennis' Books. Auntie Mame. Around the World with Auntie Mame. The Joyous Season
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