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carlageek 's review for:
The Dud Avocado
by Elaine Dundy
If you dislike stories about ex-pat ingenues hoping to discover themselves while living off someone else's money, The Dud Avocado might not be a book for you. Its (at least partly autofictional) protagonist, Sally Jay Gorce, bounces naively around post-war Paris in search of a dissolute, Bohemian ideal. Being young and pretty means she usually gets away with being profoundly stupid and annoying. But an older and wiser Sally Jay narrates most of the story, bringing a a wry, self-knowing perspective to her youthful follies that renders them very enjoyable to read. (There is a section of the book that's told in diary form instead, without that perspective, and it's somewhat more cringy to see her acting out in real time. Still funny, though).
There is an undercurrent of longing throughout Sally Jay's hedonistic adventures. She is desperate to live live to the fullest, but she can't figure out what that means -- she only knows it isn't what she's doing now. That desperation lends heft to the book, lends depth that belies Sally Jay's shallowness.
There is an undercurrent of longing throughout Sally Jay's hedonistic adventures. She is desperate to live live to the fullest, but she can't figure out what that means -- she only knows it isn't what she's doing now. That desperation lends heft to the book, lends depth that belies Sally Jay's shallowness.