{"product_id":"the-dud-avocado-isbn-9781590172322","title":"The Dud Avocado","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA smart, funny classic about a young and beautiful American woman who moves to Paris determined to live life to the fullest. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Dud Avocado \u003c\/i\u003efollows 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, \u003ci\u003eThe Dud Avocado\u003c\/i\u003e gained instant cult status when it was first published and it remains a timeless portrait of a woman hell-bent on living. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “I had to tell someone how much I enjoyed \u003ci\u003eThe Dud Avocado.\u003c\/i\u003e It made me laugh, scream, and guffaw (which, incidentally, is a great name for a law firm).” –Groucho Marx\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \"[\u003ci\u003eThe Dud Avocado\u003c\/i\u003e] is one of the best novels about growing up fast...\" \u003ci\u003e-The Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Basically, if you were to set Henry James’ \u003ci\u003ePortrait of a Lady\u003c\/i\u003e near the Sorbonne, untangle the sentences and add more slapstick, sex and champagne cocktails, you’re getting close.” - Rosecrans Baldwin, NPR's \"All Things Considered\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Already singled out in \u003ci\u003eO\u003c\/i\u003e the Oprah Magazine and named an Amazon.com 'mover and shaker,'  this edition will...introduce a new readership to the unforgettable Sally Jay Gorce,  described by one reviewer as a cross between Carrie Bradshaw and Holden Caulfield.\"  --\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Before Bridget Jones, deeply sweet and recklessly intimate  Sally Jay Gorce trolled for love (Parisian style) in novelist (and sometime wife  of theater critic Kenneth Tynan) Elaine Dundy's \u003ci\u003eThe Dud Avocado\u003c\/i\u003e, a madcap read from  1958 that's finally back in print in the United States.\" --\u003ci\u003eO Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Dud Avocado\u003c\/i\u003e follows a charming, if blundering, 21-year-old Missouri native, Sally Jay Gorce,  who spends two postcollege years sipping Pernod on \"la plus belle avenue du monde,\"  the Champs-Élysées; staging William Saroyan and Tennessee Williams with an American  theater troupe, and fumbling terribly at love.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Sun\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Think Daisy  Miller with a dash of \u003ci\u003eFear of Flying\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eMy Sister Eileen\u003c\/i\u003e with a soupçon of \u003ci\u003eSex and  the City\u003c\/i\u003e; Anita Loos crossed with Allen Ginsberg.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe Philadelphia Inquirer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Now,  this favorite has been re-issued yet again, with a gorgeous black and white nude  on the cover. Fair enough, for here is a book primarily about sex and style...few  writers ever soared so high and so delightfully.\" --\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Dud Avocado\u003c\/i\u003e opens with our beautiful and hapless heroine--imagine the panache of Holly Golightly  crossed with the naive knowingness of Holden Caulfield--wandering one September morning  through Paris in an evening dress.\" --\u003ci\u003eBoston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Elaine Dundy's semi-autobiographical  novel \u003ci\u003eThe Dud Avocado\u003c\/i\u003e, which follows the romantic escapades of Sally Jay Gorce--an  irrepressible young woman seeking adventure in '50s Paris--contains a lot of what  makes fiction fun: charm, wit, and devastatingly sharp insights.\" --Very Short List\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The gayest and most cheerful novel about Americans in Paris I have read...a dazzling  performance--as light as a champagne bubble, as continuously attention-getting as  a juggler keeping seven swords in the air at the same time.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Take one zippy, curious, 21-year-old American named Sally Jay, just out of college.   Drop her in the middle of Paris' Left Bank.  Add an Italian diplomat, an American  theatrical director , a couple of painters and a white slave trader.  Mix until all  bubbles.  The result: a delightful few hours of sparkling reading entertainment.   Summing up: Froth and frolic.\" \u003ci\u003e--Newsweek\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Delightful...her portrait of the Left  Bank expatriates is caustically funny.\" \u003ci\u003e--Time\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A champagne cockail...rich, invigorating,  and deceptively simple to the taste...One falls for Sally Jay from a great height  from the first sentence.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe Observer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A first-rate reporter, [Dundy] has made  \u003cb\u003eThe Dud Avocado\u003c\/b\u003e into a Baedeker of neo-Bohemiahe...the atmosphere of a French student  café; the folkways of hobohemia; the accents of the International Set-all these Miss  Dundy has captured with sill and a degree of wit.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A cheerfully uninhibited...variation on the theme of the Innocents Abroad...Miss  Dundy comes up with fresh and spirited comedy...Her novel is enormous fun-sparklingly  written, genuinely youthful in spirit, and exquisitely gay.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Elaine  Dundy writes a sprightly novel to bring us up to date on the American girl from across  the street who goes to Paris looking for Life and Love.  Her book is sad and tender,  bubbling with fun, spiced with insight...\u003cb\u003eThe Dud Avocado \u003c\/b\u003eis satiric, mostly true,  and decidedly sexy...The writing is sharp.\" --\u003ci\u003eNew York Herald Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"[W]itticisms  that crackle from every page.\" --Indianapolis Star\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"One of the funniest books I've  ever read; it should be subtitled Daisy Miller's Revenge.\" --Gore Vidal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"American goes to some big city with dreams of conquest, hilarity ensues. Dundy’s 1958 novel (which had a huge fan in Groucho Marx) is pretty much the best and funniest example of that whole genre.\" —Jason Diamond, \u003ci\u003eFlavorwire\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eElaine Dundy\u003c\/b\u003e (1921—2008) was born in New York City, and lived in Paris and London. She was married for a time to theater critic Kenneth Tynan. She wrote plays, novels, and biographies, including \u003ci\u003eElvis and Gladys\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eLife Itself!\u003c\/i\u003e Her work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times, Esquire,\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eVogue\u003c\/i\u003e among other publications. Her novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Dud Avocado\u003c\/i\u003e, was re-published by NYRB Classics in 2007.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTerry Teachout\u003c\/b\u003e is the drama critic for \u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e and the critic-at-large for \u003ci\u003eCommentary\u003c\/i\u003e. He has written biographies of Louis Armstrong, George Balanchine, Duke Ellington, and H. L. Mencken; the libretti for three operas by Paul Moravec; and a play, \u003ci\u003eSatchmo at the Waldorf\u003c\/i\u003e, that has been produced off-Broadway and throughout America.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"NYRB Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300204564709,"sku":"NP9781590172322","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781590172322.jpg?v=1767739093","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-dud-avocado-isbn-9781590172322","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}