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A review by bluestarfish
The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy
4.0
Sally Jay Gorce is an American in Paris in the 1950s and having finally run away from home, with the help of a generous uncle, she is a woman hellbent on living. Sally Jay is a force of nature with her pink hair, curiosity, and three looks in clothes, non of which seem to be right for any given moment she finds her in. When we first meet her she's in an evening dress as everything else she has is at the laundry's.
This is not a book with a plot as such, it is mostly following the exuberance of Sally Jay's exploring life and having fun and drinking champagne cocktails as a young woman. Sally Jay almost gets caught in a domestic cage despite being in Paris, and there's a searingly funny jab at women's role in dinner parties and having to pay "Homage to the Household Gods", but manages to escape for a little longer. Elaine Dundy created a very unique voice, you really don't encounter screwball comedy on the page very often and especially not from the female perspective.
This is not a book with a plot as such, it is mostly following the exuberance of Sally Jay's exploring life and having fun and drinking champagne cocktails as a young woman. Sally Jay almost gets caught in a domestic cage despite being in Paris, and there's a searingly funny jab at women's role in dinner parties and having to pay "Homage to the Household Gods", but manages to escape for a little longer. Elaine Dundy created a very unique voice, you really don't encounter screwball comedy on the page very often and especially not from the female perspective.