Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
NYRB Classics (2007), Edition: 2nd printing, Paperback, 272 pages
Description
"The Dud Avocado "follows the romantic and comedic adventures of a young American who heads overseas to conquer Paris in the late 1950s. Edith Wharton and Henry James wrote about the American girl abroad, but it was Elaine Dundy's Sally Jay Gorce who told us what she was really thinking. Charming, sexy, and hilarious, "The Dud Avocado" gained instant cult status when it was first published and it remains a timeless portrait of a woman hell-bent on living. " I had to tell someone how much I enjoyed "The Dud Avocado." It made me laugh, scream, and guffaw (which, incidentally, is a great name for a law firm)." - Groucho Marx " ["The Dud Avocado"] is one of the best novels about growing up fast..." "-The Guardian"
User reviews
LibraryThing member martitia
Sally Jay Gorce has enough money to live anywhere she pleases for two years. So this high-spirited college graduate takes Paris by storm. She falls in love, carouses at night with an international group of friends and flitters inside the theatrical world. Her high spirits start to flag when she
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encounters debauched aristocrats and spends a night in jail. Eventually, the seamier side of life challenges Sally Jay to think about her future. This light, comic novel, first published in 1958, has been republished by New York Review Books to introduce the 21st century to a funny, independent heroine. She narrates her adventures in the first person and describes the colorful people she meets with wit and perception. Elaine Dundy's smart, humorous writing makes Dud Avocado an appealing read for those needing a break from the real world. Show Less
LibraryThing member otterley
Strangely charming, though erratic (rather like its heroine) with a neat but ambiguous ending. Youth on the rive gauche, an American in Paris, the sort of girl that gets taken to villas in the south of France, white slavery - all a rather unexpected mix of 1950s frivolity with what feels like a
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serious message trying to get out somewhere... Show Less
LibraryThing member jawalter
The introduction to this book talks about how it's caught in a cycle of being forgotten and then rediscovered. I can see why. Sally Jay Gorce is a terrifically charming narrator: carefree and alive, but also naive, silly, and shallow. How else could she possibly get away with crying out "The world
The trouble is that she's in the wrong book. First of all, she needs a foil -- a Horatio to her Hamlet. There are a number of characters here who, even if they stand no chance of matching her, could at least have stood next to her, but the book picks them each up and discards them before they have the slightest of chances of gaining a foothold. Uncle Roger, Bax, Judy, Max ... Dundy needed to give a damn about one of them for more than a few pages at a time.
Secondly, the plot. The passport, the white slavery/prostitution ring, the fascination with bullfighters, the backstory behind "Running for my life," the whirlwind romance and marriage to Max. Maybe it's just me, but this is not the material for young Sally Jay. There was the germ of something really great here, but it just gets lost beneath an avalanche of material. Maybe it could have worked as a madcap, goofy bit of fluff, but it's taken just a little too seriously, dragging the reader along a path that doesn't really need to be trod.
Don't get me wrong. This is a delightful little read, and I'd happily pick up a sequel. It's just that there's something a little off about The Dud Avocado. I'm a little bothered by the fact that it didn't manage to be other than it was.
Although I must confess that I'm more than a little in love with the line, "I thought of sex and sin; of my body and all the men in the world who would never sleep with it."
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is wide, wide, wide, and I am young, young, young, and we're all going to live forever!" I spent a significant chunk of the book trying to decide if I wanted to kiss her or shake her.The trouble is that she's in the wrong book. First of all, she needs a foil -- a Horatio to her Hamlet. There are a number of characters here who, even if they stand no chance of matching her, could at least have stood next to her, but the book picks them each up and discards them before they have the slightest of chances of gaining a foothold. Uncle Roger, Bax, Judy, Max ... Dundy needed to give a damn about one of them for more than a few pages at a time.
Secondly, the plot. The passport, the white slavery/prostitution ring, the fascination with bullfighters, the backstory behind "Running for my life," the whirlwind romance and marriage to Max. Maybe it's just me, but this is not the material for young Sally Jay. There was the germ of something really great here, but it just gets lost beneath an avalanche of material. Maybe it could have worked as a madcap, goofy bit of fluff, but it's taken just a little too seriously, dragging the reader along a path that doesn't really need to be trod.
Don't get me wrong. This is a delightful little read, and I'd happily pick up a sequel. It's just that there's something a little off about The Dud Avocado. I'm a little bothered by the fact that it didn't manage to be other than it was.
Although I must confess that I'm more than a little in love with the line, "I thought of sex and sin; of my body and all the men in the world who would never sleep with it."
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LibraryThing member absurdeist
The Dud Avocado was okay, but I prefer guacamole.
LibraryThing member gbill
Light fare about the exploits of a young woman in France. On the one hand it seems ahead of its time and a precursor to books like "Bridget Jones's Diary", on the other hand it's "too light" at times and a bit dated. I suspect if you're young, female, and traveling this book may be of interest and
What I liked:
- The voice; it's true to itself.
- The woman's perspective evident throughout the book, in the small things like how men look at her body, or in larger things, like relationships, and the conflict between desire and guilt. Or in somewhat random things, like how long it takes to prepare, cook, feed, and clean while entertaining, or the awkwardness of reacting at a 'nude show' as a woman in order to not appear prudish, jealous, or lesbian.
- The feeling of "oh to be young and in Paris"; on coming of age and the joy of travel. And, while abroad, the observations on 'ugly Americans' as well as European haughtiness and pretentiousness.
- Humor; the book is not laugh-out-loud funny but it has its moments, and is entertaining in a light kind of way.
- The expression of female sexual desire, which I imagine must have been a little shocking in the 50's. I get a kick out of reading it a half a century later. "You know how it is. Some people can hack and hack away at you and nothing happens at all and then someone else just touches you lightly on the arm and you come ... yes, I mean that's what happened, I mean I came." Or: "I thought of sex and sin; of my body and all the men in the world who would never sleep with me. I felt a vague melancholy sensation running through me, not at all unpleasant."
- The title. :-)
What I disliked:
- At times the book is muddled in the sea of characters being lampooned.
- In the worst of cases the voice is true and real, but banal (especially evident in the diary of part two, e.g. "I sit for hours afterwards staring idly at the snails clinging to knife-blade leaves growing in our garden. Sometimes I pick them off. They make a sucking noise and there's a small round wet spot where they sat.") Hey it ain't Doestoevsky folks.
- As the book goes on, the writing style becomes a bit tedous at times, e.g. "And Angela - well, Angela was just Angela, and I ain't never seen the likes. Whoever called the English reticent must have had his ears full of golf balls."
- A couple of the book's less-than-PC references. While one could say they reflect true voices and perspectives from the era, and while it's common to run across these things in fiction from the past, the casualness of how club members were "white enough" to do someone a good turn made me cringe a bit.
Favorite quotes:
"Read! I didn't want to read, it was just a substitute for living." (I got a laugh out of typing this one in for folks on LibraryThing :-))
"It's amazing how right you can sometimes be about a person you don't know; it's only the people you do know who confuse you."
"I mean, the question actors most often get asked is how they can bear saying the same things over and over again night after night, but God knows the answer to that is, don't we all anyway; might as well get paid for it."
"The vehemence of my moral indignation surprised me. Was I beginning to have standards and principles, and, oh dear, scruples? What were they, and what would I do with them, and how much were they going to get in my way?"
"Frequently, walking down the streets in Paris alone, I've suddenly come upon myself in a store window grinning foolishly away at the thought that no one in the world knew where I was at just that moment."
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resonate better with you. What I liked:
- The voice; it's true to itself.
- The woman's perspective evident throughout the book, in the small things like how men look at her body, or in larger things, like relationships, and the conflict between desire and guilt. Or in somewhat random things, like how long it takes to prepare, cook, feed, and clean while entertaining, or the awkwardness of reacting at a 'nude show' as a woman in order to not appear prudish, jealous, or lesbian.
- The feeling of "oh to be young and in Paris"; on coming of age and the joy of travel. And, while abroad, the observations on 'ugly Americans' as well as European haughtiness and pretentiousness.
- Humor; the book is not laugh-out-loud funny but it has its moments, and is entertaining in a light kind of way.
- The expression of female sexual desire, which I imagine must have been a little shocking in the 50's. I get a kick out of reading it a half a century later. "You know how it is. Some people can hack and hack away at you and nothing happens at all and then someone else just touches you lightly on the arm and you come ... yes, I mean that's what happened, I mean I came." Or: "I thought of sex and sin; of my body and all the men in the world who would never sleep with me. I felt a vague melancholy sensation running through me, not at all unpleasant."
- The title. :-)
What I disliked:
- At times the book is muddled in the sea of characters being lampooned.
- In the worst of cases the voice is true and real, but banal (especially evident in the diary of part two, e.g. "I sit for hours afterwards staring idly at the snails clinging to knife-blade leaves growing in our garden. Sometimes I pick them off. They make a sucking noise and there's a small round wet spot where they sat.") Hey it ain't Doestoevsky folks.
- As the book goes on, the writing style becomes a bit tedous at times, e.g. "And Angela - well, Angela was just Angela, and I ain't never seen the likes. Whoever called the English reticent must have had his ears full of golf balls."
- A couple of the book's less-than-PC references. While one could say they reflect true voices and perspectives from the era, and while it's common to run across these things in fiction from the past, the casualness of how club members were "white enough" to do someone a good turn made me cringe a bit.
Favorite quotes:
"Read! I didn't want to read, it was just a substitute for living." (I got a laugh out of typing this one in for folks on LibraryThing :-))
"It's amazing how right you can sometimes be about a person you don't know; it's only the people you do know who confuse you."
"I mean, the question actors most often get asked is how they can bear saying the same things over and over again night after night, but God knows the answer to that is, don't we all anyway; might as well get paid for it."
"The vehemence of my moral indignation surprised me. Was I beginning to have standards and principles, and, oh dear, scruples? What were they, and what would I do with them, and how much were they going to get in my way?"
"Frequently, walking down the streets in Paris alone, I've suddenly come upon myself in a store window grinning foolishly away at the thought that no one in the world knew where I was at just that moment."
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LibraryThing member tercat
This is a fun little book, and I did like it, but there was just something missing for me. It didn't pull me in the way a good book often does, and I'm not sure why. I think it's just me and my current mood/circumstance.
LibraryThing member Girl_Detective
Sally Jay Gorce is an American in Paris, sometime post-Hemingway. A rich uncle funds her adventure abroad, and she's trying to get his money's worth. She has a strong, distinct voice, and a great sense of humor, especially at her own expense.
She tries to disentangle herself from her Euro lover and
This is an odd, funny book with engaging twists at the end and a weird, lovable main character. It's a little Movable Feast-y, Great Gatsby-ish, and Breakfast at Tiffany's-esque. I'm glad it's back in print, and glad to have read it, finally.
She tries to disentangle herself from her Euro lover and
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entangle herself with an old friend. The book details the dubious results, and becomes utterly engrossing toward the end. Surprising revelations occur, not least of which are the ones Sally Jay has about herself.This is an odd, funny book with engaging twists at the end and a weird, lovable main character. It's a little Movable Feast-y, Great Gatsby-ish, and Breakfast at Tiffany's-esque. I'm glad it's back in print, and glad to have read it, finally.
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LibraryThing member jaimjane
A laugh-out-loud book about the misadventures of Sally Jay Gorce during her two years in Paris. She wants "freedom" which in her own words is to stay up all night and eat whatever I want. But freedom can land one in all sorts of hot water but Sally jay manages them all, if not with aplomb, always
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with humor. I can imagine people being scandalized back in the fifties by Sally Jay but its pretty tame for nowadays. I enjoyed this book very much. Show Less
LibraryThing member inaudible
There is an underlying darkness to this book that is fairly disturbing. The ending is particularly troubling, at least how I read it.
The novel was also very funny, but don't be fooled by the cover into thinking this is all light-hearted fun.
The novel was also very funny, but don't be fooled by the cover into thinking this is all light-hearted fun.
LibraryThing member klpm
This is the story of a young woman in the 1950s who has escaped her dull American life with a two-year fully-financed jaunt in Paris, courtesy of a rich uncle. She does a little bit of acting but mostly a lot of nothing. I hate to say it but everything from the lead character's name (Sally Jay
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Gorce) to her impulsive escape to the French Riviera bothered me. Although I had heard repeatedly how funny this novel was, I can't remember laughing or even smiling a single time. Sally Jay was not a malicious or stupid character and I didn't actually dislike her but I didn't really care what happened to her either. When she got into hairy situations, I felt she never got more than she deserved. Show Less
LibraryThing member ginnyday
"I was a long way from St Louis. My past was receding a little too rapidly." Funny, witty, perfect feel for Americans and others in Bohemian Paris in the 1950s.
LibraryThing member Kasthu
The Dud Avocado is the story of Sally Jay Gorse, a young American woman living the high life in 1950s Paris. From cafes to nightclubs to art shows and the theatre, Sally Jay takes her reader on an intimate tour of her life.
I wasn’t keen on this book. It’s written in a chatty, breathless tone,
I wasn’t keen on this book. It’s written in a chatty, breathless tone,
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which was entertaining at first. But about a hundred pages in, the chattiness became almost senseless, irritating babbling. It would have been a better book had the narrator interspersed her story with some witty insights; but sadly, she’s not bright enough for that. Sally Jay has a few genuinely funny moments in this novel (the disastrous dinner with Teddy, Larry, the Comtessa, and cousin John comes to mind), but they come at the expense of the other, lesser characters, who become caricatures as portrayed by the narrator. In addition, the book is very, very dated; I imagine some of the things Sally Jay did were shocking fifty years ago, but they’re a little passé now. Show Less
LibraryThing member Michael_P
This novel is very much a product of its time and comes from the same literary vein as Truman Capote's "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Our main character - the flighty Sally Jay Gorce - hops from one scene to the other with random reckless abandon in the streets and clubs of 1950s Paris. At this point in
It's not until the second half of the novel when SJ and three friends leave Paris and travel south where they encounter a film crew looking for extras that this novel actually develops a plot enough to keep the story moving forward.
I picked this up because it is a New York Review of Books edition and was recommended by NPR. So while I may not have completely enjoyed this novel, it is a good example of its time and of some of the modern literature that was being read at that time.
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the novel, there is no real plot, and only a few minor points are necessary for the overall storyline. The first half of the novel makes it difficult to maintain interest in a character, who, even though she is only 19 years old or so, seems to have no plan other than prattle on inconsequential issues. The rest of the characters in the book are practically flat and interchangeable, and I didn't care about a single one of them. Dundy presents a fairly accurate view of what a naïve American girl in 1950's France, but I disagree with the reviewers who found it funny -- but then again, maybe in 1950 this WAS funny.It's not until the second half of the novel when SJ and three friends leave Paris and travel south where they encounter a film crew looking for extras that this novel actually develops a plot enough to keep the story moving forward.
I picked this up because it is a New York Review of Books edition and was recommended by NPR. So while I may not have completely enjoyed this novel, it is a good example of its time and of some of the modern literature that was being read at that time.
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LibraryThing member BookConcierge
The book jacket promises “the romantic and comedic adventures of a young American who heads overseas to conquer Paris in the last 1950s. [Other authors] wrote about the American girl abroad, but it was Dundy’s Sally Jay Gorce who told us what she was really thinking. Charming, sexy, and
That’ll teach me to believe a book jacket or publisher’s blurb.
In fairness, I think the whole concept would be considered romantic and comedic in the late 1950s (originally published in 1958). But I don’t think it really translates well today, when readers have been entertained by Sex and the City and the reality TV (and internet) escapades of Paris Hilton and the Kardashians. It’s not bold enough, or shocking enough, or entertaining enough.
Sally is an ingenue, and somewhat naïve, but she is full of life and eager to experience all of it. Bankrolled by a wealthy uncle, she has two years of freedom in Paris to do whatever she wants and she rushes headlong into whatever strikes her fancy – mistress to an Italian diplomat, acting in a play, posing for photographers, playing an extra in a movie, drinking champagne and dancing the flamenco. She seems never to have the right outfit for the occasion, but that doesn’t stop her. She stumbled from one mess to another, but manages always to land on her feet. She falls in love with one wrong man after another, but escapes unscathed (and apparently not learning her lesson very quickly, either).
There are some scenes where Dundy really captures my attention – the way she describes a perfect cocktail, or the guests at a dinner party, for example – but I was bored with most of it. Sally has no real purpose and I just didn’t care what happened to her or her “friends.”
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hilarious…”That’ll teach me to believe a book jacket or publisher’s blurb.
In fairness, I think the whole concept would be considered romantic and comedic in the late 1950s (originally published in 1958). But I don’t think it really translates well today, when readers have been entertained by Sex and the City and the reality TV (and internet) escapades of Paris Hilton and the Kardashians. It’s not bold enough, or shocking enough, or entertaining enough.
Sally is an ingenue, and somewhat naïve, but she is full of life and eager to experience all of it. Bankrolled by a wealthy uncle, she has two years of freedom in Paris to do whatever she wants and she rushes headlong into whatever strikes her fancy – mistress to an Italian diplomat, acting in a play, posing for photographers, playing an extra in a movie, drinking champagne and dancing the flamenco. She seems never to have the right outfit for the occasion, but that doesn’t stop her. She stumbled from one mess to another, but manages always to land on her feet. She falls in love with one wrong man after another, but escapes unscathed (and apparently not learning her lesson very quickly, either).
There are some scenes where Dundy really captures my attention – the way she describes a perfect cocktail, or the guests at a dinner party, for example – but I was bored with most of it. Sally has no real purpose and I just didn’t care what happened to her or her “friends.”
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LibraryThing member williecostello
It is never fair to begin a review of one book by comparing it to another---especially when the two books are not in intrinsically related, and even more especially when the two books were published in the same year, such that neither was written in light of the other---but there is simply no
This description will also probably give one a pretty good indication of how much they'll enjoy the book. If you've always been enamoured with Capote's Holly Golightly, you'll be equally enamoured with Dundy's Sally Jay Gorce; but if, on the other hand, you're irritated by such flightly, incorrigible types, well you're not going to be any less irritated by Sally Jay.
I, however, am firmly in the former camp, and relished The Dud Avocado for that reason. Sally Jay is a wonderful character to get to know, and the first-person narration offers an intimacy and closeness you never get with Holly Golightly. This has its pluses and its minuses, of course; part of what makes Holly so appealing throughout Capote's work is her distance and the feeling that she's always out of reach, and the third-person perspective of Breakfast at Tiffany's works to emphasize that. With The Dud Avocado, that sense of intrigue and mystery is lost, and regrettably so. Yet how tantalizing to have that veil be lifted!
Unfortunately, the plot of The Dud Avocado is wretchedly overwrought and contrived, and I ended up wishing the second two parts of the book never got written. (This is also a problem for Breakfast at Tiffany's, of course, but nowhere near as severe.) Indeed, most of the charm of the novel can be gotten from the first chapter alone. Nonetheless, that first chapter is so good, and the character of Sally Jay so unforgettable, that I can't dismiss the book outright. Though far from a perfect novel, there's something very special about The Dud Avocado, and something worth checking out.
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better to sum up Elaine Dundy's The Dud Avocado than by saying it is like Breakfast at Tiffany's if Breakfast at Tiffany's were told from Holly's perspective and set in Paris instead of New York.This description will also probably give one a pretty good indication of how much they'll enjoy the book. If you've always been enamoured with Capote's Holly Golightly, you'll be equally enamoured with Dundy's Sally Jay Gorce; but if, on the other hand, you're irritated by such flightly, incorrigible types, well you're not going to be any less irritated by Sally Jay.
I, however, am firmly in the former camp, and relished The Dud Avocado for that reason. Sally Jay is a wonderful character to get to know, and the first-person narration offers an intimacy and closeness you never get with Holly Golightly. This has its pluses and its minuses, of course; part of what makes Holly so appealing throughout Capote's work is her distance and the feeling that she's always out of reach, and the third-person perspective of Breakfast at Tiffany's works to emphasize that. With The Dud Avocado, that sense of intrigue and mystery is lost, and regrettably so. Yet how tantalizing to have that veil be lifted!
Unfortunately, the plot of The Dud Avocado is wretchedly overwrought and contrived, and I ended up wishing the second two parts of the book never got written. (This is also a problem for Breakfast at Tiffany's, of course, but nowhere near as severe.) Indeed, most of the charm of the novel can be gotten from the first chapter alone. Nonetheless, that first chapter is so good, and the character of Sally Jay so unforgettable, that I can't dismiss the book outright. Though far from a perfect novel, there's something very special about The Dud Avocado, and something worth checking out.
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LibraryThing member VioletBramble
Set in 1950s Paris, France. Sally Jay Gorce is an American girl on her own in Paris. In her formative years Sally Jay frequently ran away from home. Her rich Uncle Roger made a deal with her just before her 13th birthday. Stop running away, graduate high school and college and he would pay for her
The book was funny in places. The last half of the book was a quick read as there was more going on. While the book was good it never really pulled me into it's world. I didn't really like Sally Jay. She's scatter brained, always losing things and making bad decisions, but I got the feeling that the reader is supposed to think that she's intelligent.
About the title: " His avocado arrived and he looked at it lovingly. "The Typical American Girl." he said addressing it. " A hard center with the tender meat all wrapped up in a shiny casing." He began eating it. "How I love them" he murmured greedily. "So green - so eternally green". Sally Jay declares herself a dud.
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to go anywhere she wants for two years. It is Sally's greatest desire to be on her own with no one to answer to, stay out all night, eat and drink what she likes and have sex. Along the way she falls in love with all the wrong people, does some acting, aways dresses inappropriately for the occasion, and unknowingly gets involved with a stolen passport/ prostitution scheme. The book was funny in places. The last half of the book was a quick read as there was more going on. While the book was good it never really pulled me into it's world. I didn't really like Sally Jay. She's scatter brained, always losing things and making bad decisions, but I got the feeling that the reader is supposed to think that she's intelligent.
About the title: " His avocado arrived and he looked at it lovingly. "The Typical American Girl." he said addressing it. " A hard center with the tender meat all wrapped up in a shiny casing." He began eating it. "How I love them" he murmured greedily. "So green - so eternally green". Sally Jay declares herself a dud.
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LibraryThing member alexrichman
A fun romp through Paris with Miss Gorce, a decadent, sharp-tongued, sex-positive adventuress. I didn't fall as madly in love with it as plenty of others have, but for the right audience it's a great book, full of moral messages that hold up to our brutal modern standards.
LibraryThing member jonfaith
It is may be indicative of health and well-being, but I found the seocnd half of the book superior to the first. I had been rather tired yesterday and surprisingly spry today.
Yes, the protagonist is catty and vain. The gradual self-awareness is earnest in its portrayal. I found the book closer to
Yes, the protagonist is catty and vain. The gradual self-awareness is earnest in its portrayal. I found the book closer to
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Balzac than to Helen Fielding Show Less
LibraryThing member brenzi
"Last night was one of THOSE evenings. I wouldn't know what to call it. Eventful in an uneventful way. Boring; but interesting. Nothing much happening on the surface and everybody seething and stewing underneath---changing character all over the place." Page 180
I don't think I've read another novel
I don't think I've read another novel
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where the protagonist came roaring off the page like Sally Jay Gorce does in this book. A twenty year old American girl who is spending the year (1958) in Paris, she is so fresh, so dynamic, so filled with energy that I couldn't help cheer her on as she faced one disaster after another. Lots of books have been written about Americans abroad but this one is the one that will stand out for me. All the characterizations are great but Sally Jay will stay with me for sure. Wild and wonderful.Enhanced by the terrific Backlisted podcast. Show Less
LibraryThing member jpsnow
This strikes me as a story that was good fiction and edgy when published in 1958, and which is now good fiction and historically interesting in 2023. Sally Jay Gorce embarks on adventures in discovering herself while discovering Paris, funded by a rich uncle after fulfilling a promise to complete
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her education first. I found some of the writing devices interesting and unique ("I stiffened my spine and tried to dance disapprovingly. Try it."). If you like fun fiction and tales of decades gone by, this is a worthy choice. Show Less
LibraryThing member SeriousGrace
I think I would have liked to have known Elaine Dundy. Loosely based on her own life, Dud Avocado is a delicious romp through Paris, France in the 1950s. Dundy or rather Sally Jay Gorce, storms her way through the night clubs and Parisian society. Here's the skinny on the plot: when Sally Jay Gorce
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was thirteen years old her uncle made her a deal: stop running away (now) and graduate from college (eventually). If she did all that he would pay for her to go anywhere for two years. No strings attached. He wouldn't even try to contact her. After two years she could come home and tell him all about it...When we first meet Sally she is in Paris, France and it has been eight years since she made that deal. At the moment she is trying to win the favors of actor Larry Keevil, a fellow American with shiny auburn hair and gray-green eyes. She is in love. The only problem is this: Sally is currently involved with a "three-timing" man who already has a wife (1), mistress (2) and Sally (3). Sally gets mixed up in a bunch of relationships but she always keeps coming back to Larry. Only, he's not the man she thinks he is. And she isn't the girl she thought she was. Turns out she really did want to be a librarian. Show Less
LibraryThing member Xiguli
Zop zop! This novel just sings with its own triumphant off-key warble. Sally Jay Gorce could be the big sister of Holden Caulfield. She's just as funny and impulsive, but her wanderlust has brought her to more grown-up European adventures.
Paris is a glitzy ordeal swallowed whole. From the giddy,
Paris is a glitzy ordeal swallowed whole. From the giddy,
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liquor-saturated highs, to the morose, self-incriminating lows, she tries out decadence (first of the old-guard variety and then of the bohemian); she consorts with artists and takes lovers; she poses nude, loses her passport, and dyes her hair pink. The wry wisdom of this intrepid, surprisingly vulnerable American woman slices through with arrogance and naivete. Amazingly, it doesn't matter a bit that the voice is from the 1950s. The emotional honesty, sexual bravado, and unflagging energy of Sally Jay Gorce stamp her experiences with a seamless and vibrant modernity. Show Less
LibraryThing member mimo
"I sat down and tried to read, but I couldn't. After ten pages I was in a state of cold fury. Read! I didn't want to read, it was just a substitute for living" (141).In the modern mid-century, a young American girl goes to live abroad, in Paris, France, to presumably live and have an Adventure. And
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so Sally Jay Gorce goes on one. To some people this kind of adventure seems unrealistically romantic, but the afterword by the author leads me to believe that many of the stories themselves were based on her own. It’s quite a trip. The heroine has a rich uncle benefactor, natch. And a sad elusive childhood, of course. She arrives in Paris and lands herself an Italian diplomat lover. She then falls into unrequited love with a fellow American she knows from home. There is another American, a painter, who provides quiet steadiness when love with the Italian goes sour. She is also the object of desire of a rugged and grounded Canadian. While all this sorts itself out, there are plenty of cafes and wild drinking, outlandish characters and frenemies. She even has a job, kind of, acting in a local theatre. It’s the romantic life we all wish we once lived when we had youth and beauty. The punchline is one last wild adventure that leads to an epiphany and concludes with safe and happy resolution (spoiler: marriage).
This story is not one I can relate to much: kind of old school, and reeks of Americans abroad in its heyday. That said, it’s a good yarn. It did have a slow start where I was becoming acquainted with the language and scene. And then I got into the rhythm and it swept me along. I felt very much like poor Judy, a sickly American unable or unknowledgeable how to live Sally Jay’s bold and carefree existence and must settle for the stories Sally Jay brings back to her in gossipy detail (this is also a great device well employed by Dundy). The last third whipped through pretty brilliantly and I was simply charmed. (And of course, at a personal level, I relished in the librarian-as-reoccuring-nightmare bit.)
"...the Ancient always began a table. It was his one dignity. He would come into the Select and sit down, and the table would start growing around him with friends and acquaintances. Even though he knew all the people there already, he never joined a table. When he arrived they moved over to him and that was that. So it was always his table" (82).
"Now here's the heavy iron. So I went back to New York to become a librarian. To actually *seek* out this thing I've been fleeing all my life. And (here it comes): a librarian is just not that easy to become" (236).
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Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1958
Physical description
272 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
1590172329 / 9781590172322