by Rich Watson
The 1955 novel Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade by Patrick Dennis sold over two million copies in its first print run, spent five weeks atop the New York Times bestseller chart, and inspired plays, stage musicals and films. The character became one of the most iconic literary women of the twentieth century.
She was probably based on the author’s real-life aunt. The New York neighborhood she inhabited and its unique world, though, was and is all too real.
