Amazon.com (ISBN 0345376501, Mass Market Paperback)

First a book, then a play, then a musical and a couple of movie versions--Auntie Mame became a multi-media sensation long before the term was invented. Mame first burst upon the public's consciousness in 1955, with the publication of Patrick Dennis's classic novel, Auntie Mame. More than 40 years later, the book is still in print, and still a delight to read.

Who can resist that force of nature, Mame Dennis, who takes over the rearing of her orphaned nephew Patrick and turns his life into one wild escapade after another? She enrolls Patrick in a progressive school where, among other things, the students strip naked and pretend to be fish, laying and fertilizing eggs; in a later chapter, she busts him out of a conservative prep school, driving a stolen car. During Patrick's college years, she's almost caught dallying with one of his classmates in the dorm.

Auntie Mame is a novel that holds up well over the years. The times it describes were simpler in many ways than they are today, which may account for some of the book's charm. But in the end, the success of Patrick Dennis's frequently hilarious and always entertaining tribute to unconventional family life rests on the affectionate, funny friendship between young Patrick and his one-of-a-kind guardian.