Reviews - The Dud Avocado | The StoryGraph

588 reviews for:

The Dud Avocado

Elaine Dundy

3.73 AVERAGE

prosenotbros's review against another edition

4.0

Title is more impressive than the content of the book; nevertheless, still an enjoyable romp!

nataliejm's review against another edition

this book has a few really funny lines, including one where the protagonist laments that all her clothes can be sorted "into three categories: Tyrolean Peasant, Bar Girl, and Dreaded Librarian" but that's about all I can remember about it.

sophiaeck's review against another edition

5.0

the dud avocado begins with sally jay gorce walking down the streets of paris, when suddenly she sees a man she recognizes; despite the foreign parisian setting, the unlikelihood of seeing someone we know in a place we are not native to, this could be a mundane situation that could happen to any of us. this thought is truly prophetic of what we come to realize throughout this novel; sally jay gorce, when it comes down to it, is just like any of us. if we strip down these unique experiences of hers, the clubs, the european trips, the unlikely lovers, she is just a girl realizing that despite what she has previously believed, she does have time, and the world is wider than this small circle of people she’s surrounded by have led her to believe it is. these things she has been influenced into believing she wants, these people she is so sure she needs the approval of, they are just smokescreens and are blinding her of who she could really be. sally, like all of us, has these existential thoughts, self doubts, this resignation to how she thinks her life is destined to be; “i am mourning for my life.” but we are so young! a bird in a cage believes the cage is all it will ever know, but that doesn’t mean it has to be true. “i gave up wondering if anyone was ever going to understand me at all. if i was ever going to understand myself even.” throughout our lives, every once in awhile, we have to reintroduce ourselves to ourself, and reintroduce our selves to the world. we do not have to surrender ourselves to the person we have been until now, and we do not have to live the future we resigned ourselves into thinking is the only one we have. the dud avocado shows that if we fail to grow the seed we have in that moment, we can try again with a different seed, and it’s not a failure, it’s simply a new beginning. it’s like that one ask polly quote; “you are young and you are learning how to live.” and, despite this deep theme, this book is also especially clever, and you might even have a laugh. truly the best of both worlds

lamontslament's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lynn00's review

3.25

lighthearted slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

andforgotten's review

The voice of the narrator is so conversational and flippant I found it hard not to drift off at times; I expected light reading, of course, but in the end it all wraps up too neatly - and in marriage - so it has ultimately failed to leave a lasting impression.