Little Me: The Intimate Memoirs of that Great Star of Stage, Screen and Television/Belle Poitrine

HIlarious tongue and check version by the infamous author of the classic "auntie mame". There is not a page of this novel that doesn't make you laugh.The book centers around a woman Belle who is supremely naive and her ascent to "stardom"( rather infamy) in the acting world. The husbands, the friends, and the antics are so funny.This is very easy to read but at the same time very sophisticated writing. Mr. Dennis was a superb writer and observer of his society and the high jinx there in.If you like or are aware of Max Schulman books ( barefoot boy with cheek) which is written a bit earlier in the last century- get those volumens as well. these two authors are the best in the business at making fun of society while not offending!

This is a fanatical book. The only equivalent I can think of is the movie This is Spinal Tap. You can see everyone had a hand in creating this. Just wonderful fun. I wish I had a group of friends like him. Oh wait...I do!

"When did you die"? To the reviewer 'close reader', who finds the film version of "Auntie Mame" hard to get through" When did you die? I grew up with my parents and aunt raving about the movie (1958). Of course I knew "Mame" the stage musical growing up. But sadly I had NEVER seen the straight film till @ 1980 at a revival at the old Regency Theatre in NYC. There were maybe 200 folks in attendance, many of them 'Gay'. Basically the entire audience roared in non-stop laughter for 2.5 hrs! This, as my parents had promised: was the funniest film I had/have ever seen! In the last 2 years with COVID, I have read EVERY book by Patrick Dennis. Most are great, a few stinkers. "Little Me" is NOT one of the stinkers! It is charming but yes- of a 'former time'. I so wish that the stage musical had been filmed. Best, HJ

If you are “of age” (70 or better) you should remember those black and white movies you watch on tv when ditching elementary school. Ever wondered just who those “stars” were and how life was when your parents were your age? Just read on about biggest, brightest, most fabulous one to have ever come out of Hollywood.

Gave as a gift. Well received.

Hilarious. Very clever. The photographs are priceless. Every joke lands. A must read show biz 'bio' for all camp enthusists.

Before I read Patrick Dennis’s enormously successful book Little Me, I read the follow-up, First Lady. With Little Me, Belle Poitrine—a fictional movie star—relates her life story to Patrick Dennis. Told in first person by Poitrine, Dennis gives us a parody of celebrity biographies, complete with photos from the actress’s life, staged by Dennis’s friend Cris Alexander. When Little Me became such a huge phenomenon, Dennis then wrote the story of a US First Lady, whose husband was president for thirty days. Critics somewhat panned First Lady, saying it was a pale imitation of Little Me. I, however, maybe because I read the second book before I read Little Me, both over fifty years ago and again recently—like First Lady better. I understand that Little Me has more nuance, but the title character in First Lady seems to be a wide-eyed innocent, never realizing her mistakes in relationships, decisions, and decorating. Belle Poitrine, however, seems to be fully aware of her shortcomings and machinations while cloaking them in innocence. Perhaps that’s what makes Little Me a better novel, but I did not particularly like Poitrine and was glad the book was over when I turned the final page. A big affectation in the book that irritated me was Dennis’s use of quotation marks. I think he wanted Poitrine to show she knew the nicknames and expressions were not true ones—every name that is abbreviated, i.e. Billy for William, and every movie industry term, i.e. lot (the physical land on which movie studios sit) and “blew up” (forgetting one’s lines,) and select ordinary terms as kid and toney, are all encased in quotation marks. If this was a joke, it got old quickly. Patrick Dennis created Auntie Mame, and for that, we will always be grateful. In his time, he was wildly successful and lauded as a satirist and parodist. I hate to think some of his work has become dated and out of mode. Perhaps that’s the case. Or perhaps I am a different person since I first read these works half a century ago.

I have bought this in print a few times for myself and as gifts, so having it on my Kindle is wonderful. Patrick Dennis is one of the funniest and most creative writers of all time, with an incredible camp sensibility. He's the reason I love John Waters and RuPaul and everything they do. "Little Me" is a fantastic hoot and a half.

I bought this as a replacement for the very old paperback copy I had of this particular book, which I had been re reading, on and off for the past forty or so years. The author, Patrick Dennis and his photographer, as well as all those who posed for the photographs covering Belle Poitrine's "career" did a wonderful job.

Having read Patrick Dennis other titles I was keen to buy another. It didn't dissappoint.A lovely step back in time.

Item as described. One of the most hysterically funny books ever.

In the early sixties I had a hard-back copy of this, which I lent to someone who never returned it. It's a spoof biography of a great 'STAR', in a special edition, fully illustrated with wonderful photographs. It's camp and funny - and a hoot! I was delighted when they re-issued it in a paperback edition so that I could be re-united with it. Patrick Dennis is probably best known as the author of Auntie Mame, but this is just as good. It was made into a stage musical, with book by Neil Simon and a great score by Cy Coleman, which had some success in the early seventies. I'd love to see it revived too. A pleasure re-newed.

It was an enjoyable and very funny read about a fictitious film star of the 1930's. Well worth a try.