Uncle Mame: The Life of Patrick Dennis

By Eric Myers

Book Overview

Edward Everett Tanner III, under his pseudonyms of Patrick Dennis and Virginia Rowans, was the author of sixteen novels - most of them bestsellers - including the classics Little Me and Genius. But, despite the success of his other works, he is by best known and best remembered for his most indelible creation - Auntie Mame. Born and raised in the affluent suburbs of Chicago, Tanner moved to New York City after World War II and embarked upon a writing career. His first two books were published with a whimper - attracting few reviews and fewer sales - and his third book was rejected by nineteen publishers before being accepted at a relatively small house. But Auntie Mame became a phenomena spending two years on the bestseller lists, adapting into a successful play, movie, and later a musical. As a result of this and later successes, Tanner made millions and became the toast of a certain bohemian segment of Manhattan arts society. He also spent every cent he ever made. Torn between his wife and family and his own awakening realization of his homosexuality, he separated from his wife and moved to Mexico. By the early 70's, his writing career over, he embarked upon a new career - as a butler to some of the wealthiest families in America. Based on extensive interviews with co-workers, friends, and relatives, "Uncle Mame is a revealing, appealing portrait of a great American character. Easily the counterpart of such revered wits as P. G. Wodehouse and Evelyn

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312246552
• ISBN13: 9780312246556
• Release Date: November 2000
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.6" x 1.1" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Poignant at times, but otherwise hilarious!!!

What a life!! Mr. Edward Everett Tanner (a.k.a. "Pat"...Patrick Dennis...Virginia Rowans) did EVERYthing, wasn't afraid of ANYthing. From the experiences of his deep and lifelong commitment to friends, to wife and children, sprang all of the side-splitting laughter he has left us---"Auntie Mame", though definitely his chef-d'ouvre, is nonetheless only a small part of the body of his extensive work. Too bad it took him the better part of his life to come out to himself---maybe it would have made a difference in his literary output, since so much of his comedy was tied to then-clandestine camp. But who knows or cares? Any man who can find humor even in the penury of his last years is a creative genius on any level.You'll laugh often, and out loud, and get some great lines for cocktail conversation!!

A Perfect Page-Turner !

At long last, a biography of the brilliantly comic writer Patrick Dennis, and a spendidly enjoyable and merry read it is. Ever since an enlightened high school drama teacher introduced me to the wonderful romps in Dennis's novels, I've wanted to know what made this gifted, funny, observant and dead-on writer tick. The biography "Uncle Mame" is that insight. It shines a light on Dennis--as a private person, as a public figure, as an artist and for me, best of all, as a social observer. The biography makes sense of this surprisingly undocumented writer. "Uncle Mame" evokes all the frothy fun of a Patrick Dennis novel and also, poignantly conveys the personal journeyed travelled by a public person. Normally in biographies, I skip the boring childhood/adolescent and young adulthood chapters, because too often, the biographer doesn't make the leap from who the child was, to who the child became. In "Uncle Mame", I found all of this background information not only interesting (and often screamingly funny) but relevant to what would become Patrick Dennis's take on life and his approach to observing the social customs and practices of his era. The book gives not only keen insight into Dennis as a writer, but also, to the underly social context of the times. The book also fills in many, many blanks, focusing on the unsung heros and heroines, friends and colleagues who contributed in various ways to Dennis' novels and it was hugely satisfying to at last find how their lives had intersected with Dennis' and the collaborative process underlying a novel. "Uncle Mame" thankfully does not shy away from stepping up to the plate to paint a candid and thoroughly three-dimensional portrait of a complex, brilliant man who whilst entertaining millions, faced personal troubles and doubts, had some battles, and through whom, left a wonderful chronicle of a by-gone era and his take on it. I can only hope the author will take on some other unheralded but hugely deserving subjects and give those of us who have been waiting, the overdue biographies of perhaps Kay Thompson, Roz Russell, Kay Kendall or Eleanor Parker.

This book is a banquet

It's amazing that Patrick Dennis has had to wait till now to get the biography he deserves -- but he's gotten it in UNCLE MAME. What I especially loved about Eric Myers' book was his obvious love for his subject, but a love that never goes gooey or adulatory. He puts Dennis on his proper Comic Pantheon pedestal and then abundantly shows why he belongs there now and forever. Auntie Mame is an archetypal creation who speaks to all of our needs for excitement, perspective, and an astonishing ultimate emotional honesty. Her creator pulled her from inside himself, and Myers shows how and why that happened. Mix this with an amazing and previously untold story about a unique American life -- and it's quite a book, that belongs on the shelf right next to AUNTIE MAME, LITTLE ME, GENIUS and the other Dennis masterworks. It is not for fans of Lucille Ball.

An astonishing man, a wonderful read

Eric Myers does a terrific job of capturing the soul and spirit of Edward Tanner (aka Virginia Rowans, aka Patrick Dennis). Myers' deft biographical skills show how Tanner saved his venom for the page and, alas, for himself, leaving behind family and friends who clearly loved him and love him still, nearly a quarter of a century after his death. The author also encapsulates the best parts of Tanner's sixteen novels and makes a strong case for Tanner's skill as a chronicler of mid-twentieth-century America, as he skewered the pompous and championed the unique. There's much more to Patrick Dennis than his most popular book, Auntie Mame, and I hope that this first biography will bring at least the best of his other novels--The Joyous Season, Genius, Little Me--back into print.

The real 'Mame' revealed!

If any popular author deserves a biography, Patrick Dennis is that author. Very little has been reported in print about Patrick Dennis, and today he runs a very real danger of being forgotten or undiscovered by a generation of young people. As I am a "young person," and rabid fan of the writings of Mr. Dennis, I can attest to the enormous influence his books have had on my outlook. Once convinced to read his works, my friends and peers inevitably fall in love with his madcap characters and storytelling. Most well known for his outrageus and extraordinarily popular creation, "Auntie Mame," "Patrick Dennis," (actually one of many pseudonyms) used his many "light comic novels" to introduce both a hilarious camp aesthetic into mainstream pop culture, and perhaps more importantly, an underlying philosophy of tolerance and celebration of differences.Author Eric Myers dives right into the world of "Pat," and while he wastes no time in chronicling the eyebrow-raising behavior of young Pat, it might be slightly shocking for those unschooled in the style of Patrick Dennis. Have no worry -- the book builds in momentum, ever expanding on Pat's experiences in a world of lovable free spirits, searing society shenanigans, and snobbish blowhard conservatives, all stock characters of the Dennis style.Eric Myers paints a vivid picture of time and place, recreating an urbane society where someone with Pat's obvious flamboyant tendencies can be labeled as simply "fun and exotic." But Pat was a real person, not just one of his creations, and there is a real inner human struggle to be explored, as well.Thankfully, Myers peppers the heavily researched book with a generous amount of rare writings from Pat (including a marvelous grab-bag Appendices), and includes many entertaining quotes from friends and family. The book is appropiately structured like a Patrick Dennis story, this time, Pat himself serving as the teacher of the value of being one's self, no matter how difficult that may seem. The only criticism I have of the book (and I didn't allow it to effect my star rating) is the extremely tacky design of the book jacket. Without doubt, the most ardent fans of Mr. Dennis are extremely aesthetically sensitive, so there's no excuse for the second-rate-dinner-theater-playbill-knockoff of a cover. Wisely, the publishers printed the book in standard issue Patrick Dennis "light comic novel" size, so it will fit nicely next to your copy of Auntie Mame.Patrick Dennis has taught many people not to "judge a book by its cover" (so to speak) and that lesson applies well here. Eric Myers has crafted a very funny, exhaustive, affectionate portrait of one of pop culture's most influential authors. If Auntie Mame has played a special role in your life, check out the book that finally puts to rest the long debated origins of who the REAL Auntie Mame was.