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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Dame Edna Everage - housewife, megastar, investigative journalist, social anthropologist, children's book illustrator, chanteuse, swami, monstre sacre, polymath, adviser to British royalty, grief counselor, spin doctor, and gifted woman in the world today. The seeds of stardom were planted in Melbourne, Australia when her career as a performing artiste was strictly a cult following. In the 1960's, she did a series of one-woman shows and occasional stage and TV appearances in England with Barry Humphries. She spends her time visiting world leaders and jet-setting between her homes in Malibu, London, Sydney, and Switzerland. Her hobbies are having afternoon tea with Stephen Hwking and doing compassionate photography.'
'Dame Edna Everage is the creation of and played by Barry Humphries.' (Source: Goodreads website)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
- Large print.
Works about this Work
-
Author as Performer : Performing Autobiographies
2019
single work
criticism
— Appears in: International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media , vol. 15 no. 3 2019; (p. 326-339)'It may be argued that audiobooks should not substitute for reading, and authors—contrary to common conception—seldom are the best narrators of their own work. On the other hand, as the first-person narrative constitutes an inherent aesthetic property of the audiobook as a unique performance-based aural artefact, the audiobook versions of autobiographies can potentially amplify one’s aesthetic experience of a written personal history. Nonetheless, rather than focusing on so-called ‘standard’ autobiographies, this essay attends to the aural iterations of Barry Humphries’s pseudo-autobiographical writing. Overall, the aesthetic complexity in Humphries’s work is virtually labyrinthine and borderline-surreal. While there surely prevail far more complex first-person narratives, the complexities in Humphries’s case stem from the texts’ incarnation as audiobooks, putting into question not only the identity of the narrating protagonists, but also their very (non)-existence. They simultaneously exist as commonplace works of fiction written by Humphries, and as the quite literal memoirs of Humphries’s own fictional characters. They thus raise the question whether certain audiobooks might in fact negate the original printed work.'
Source: Abstract.
-
He Enjoys Being a Girl
1992
single work
review
— Appears in: The New York Times Book Review , 19 January 1992; (p. 11)
— Review of My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure 1989 single work autobiography -
The Great Dame
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: Quadrant , January-February vol. 34 no. 1-2 1990; (p. 111-112)
— Review of My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure 1989 single work autobiography -
Paperbacks
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 22-23 December 1990; (p. rev 5)
— Review of My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure 1989 single work autobiography ; Wild Card : An Autobiography, 1923-1958 1990 single work autobiography -
Looking Back Retrospectively
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: The Adelaide Review , February no. 72 1990; (p. 29)
— Review of My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure 1989 single work autobiography
-
A Life that is Well Above Everage
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 21 October 1989; (p. 11)
— Review of My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure 1989 single work autobiography -
Dame Edna Reveals All
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 21 October 1989; (p. B9)
— Review of My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure 1989 single work autobiography -
Dame Edna on Royalty, and Sex
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: The Newcastle Herald , 25 November 1989;
— Review of My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure 1989 single work autobiography -
Spooky Tale of a Gorgeous Life
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: The Herald , 13 October 1989; (p. 16)
— Review of My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure 1989 single work autobiography -
The Dear Old Possum Tells All In a Book of Practical Chat
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 14 October 1989; (p. 81)
— Review of My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure 1989 single work autobiography -
Edna Reveals Her Man's a Mystery
1989
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Australian , 14 December 1989; (p. 3) -
Author as Performer : Performing Autobiographies
2019
single work
criticism
— Appears in: International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media , vol. 15 no. 3 2019; (p. 326-339)'It may be argued that audiobooks should not substitute for reading, and authors—contrary to common conception—seldom are the best narrators of their own work. On the other hand, as the first-person narrative constitutes an inherent aesthetic property of the audiobook as a unique performance-based aural artefact, the audiobook versions of autobiographies can potentially amplify one’s aesthetic experience of a written personal history. Nonetheless, rather than focusing on so-called ‘standard’ autobiographies, this essay attends to the aural iterations of Barry Humphries’s pseudo-autobiographical writing. Overall, the aesthetic complexity in Humphries’s work is virtually labyrinthine and borderline-surreal. While there surely prevail far more complex first-person narratives, the complexities in Humphries’s case stem from the texts’ incarnation as audiobooks, putting into question not only the identity of the narrating protagonists, but also their very (non)-existence. They simultaneously exist as commonplace works of fiction written by Humphries, and as the quite literal memoirs of Humphries’s own fictional characters. They thus raise the question whether certain audiobooks might in fact negate the original printed work.'
Source: Abstract.