image of person or book cover 6548695711860903541.jpg
This image has been sourced from online.
y separately published work icon My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure single work   autobiography   humour  
Issue Details: First known date: 1989... 1989 My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

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

    • Melbourne, Victoria,: London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Macmillan ,
      1989 .
      image of person or book cover 6548695711860903541.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 292p.
      Description: illus.
      Note/s:
      • Includes vignettes by John Richardson.
      • Dedication: In Memory of Norm.
      ISBN: 0333492412, 0732901405 (hbk.), 0333525515 (de luxe cased ed.)
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Simon and Schuster ,
      1989 .
      Alternative title: My Gorgeous Life : The Life, The Loves, The Legend
      Extent: 284p.
      ISBN: 0671709763
    • Chippendale, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,: Sun Books , 1990 .
      Extent: 292p.
      Description: illus.
      Note/s:
      • Includes vignettes by John Richardson.
      ISBN: 072510662X (pbk.)
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Dell ,
      1994 .
      Alternative title: My Gorgeous Life : The Life, The Loves, The Legend
      Extent: 284p.
      ISBN: 044050614X (pbk.)
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Mandarin ,
      1995 .
      Extent: 337p.
      Edition info: Rev. and enriched ed.
      Description: illus.
      Note/s:
      • Includes vignettes by John Richardson.
      ISBN: 0749320362 (pbk.)
Alternative title: Mein schrilles Leben
Language: German
    • Munich,
      c
      Germany,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Droemer Knaur ,
      1994 .
      Extent: 411p.
      Note/s:
      • Preface by Roger Willemsen.

Other Formats

  • Sound recording.
  • Large print.

Works about this Work

Author as Performer : Performing Autobiographies David Sheinberg , 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 Robert Plunket , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: The New York Times Book Review , 19 January 1992; (p. 11)

— Review of My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure Dame Edna Everage , 1989 single work autobiography
The Great Dame Ross Fitzgerald , 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 Dame Edna Everage , 1989 single work autobiography
Paperbacks Penelope Nelson , 1990 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 22-23 December 1990; (p. rev 5)

— Review of My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure Dame Edna Everage , 1989 single work autobiography ; Wild Card : An Autobiography, 1923-1958 Dorothy Hewett , 1990 single work autobiography
Looking Back Retrospectively Murray Bramwell , 1990 single work review
— Appears in: The Adelaide Review , February no. 72 1990; (p. 29)

— Review of My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure Dame Edna Everage , 1989 single work autobiography
A Life that is Well Above Everage Dennis Pryor , 1989 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 21 October 1989; (p. 11)

— Review of My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure Dame Edna Everage , 1989 single work autobiography
Dame Edna Reveals All Len Ward , 1989 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 21 October 1989; (p. B9)

— Review of My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure Dame Edna Everage , 1989 single work autobiography
Dame Edna on Royalty, and Sex Sep Owen , 1989 single work review
— Appears in: The Newcastle Herald , 25 November 1989;

— Review of My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure Dame Edna Everage , 1989 single work autobiography
Spooky Tale of a Gorgeous Life Shane Maloney , 1989 single work review
— Appears in: The Herald , 13 October 1989; (p. 16)

— Review of My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure Dame Edna Everage , 1989 single work autobiography
The Dear Old Possum Tells All In a Book of Practical Chat Mike Carlton , 1989 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 14 October 1989; (p. 81)

— Review of My Gorgeous Life : An Adventure Dame Edna Everage , 1989 single work autobiography
Edna Reveals Her Man's a Mystery Stuart Rintoul , 1989 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Australian , 14 December 1989; (p. 3)
Author as Performer : Performing Autobiographies David Sheinberg , 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.

Last amended 16 Sep 2021 10:38:10
X