Elaine Dundy - Books

Books

In 1958, Dundy published her first novel, The Dud Avocado, loosely based on her experiences in Paris. It reached the top of the bestseller lists. The author received a letter from an admirer:

Dear Mrs Tynan, I don't make the habit of writing to married women, especially if the husband is a dramatic critic, but I had to tell someone (and it might as well be you since you're the author) how much I enjoyed The Dud Avocado. It made me laugh, scream and guffaw (which incidentally is a great name for a law firm). If this was actually your life, I don't know how on earth you got through it. Sincerely, Groucho Marx.

When she became successful Tynan disapproved of Dundy writing, despite having forecast success, because it distracted attention from himself, though Dundy herself had seen it as a means to save their marriage. Around this time Tynan started to insist on flagellating his wife, with the threat of his own suicide if she refused. Drugs, alcohol, and extramarital affairs by both parties resulted in the marriage becoming fraught, and it was dissolved in 1964. In 1962, she was a writer for the BBC's satirical That Was the Week That Was. Dundy eventually cured herself of addictions during the period 1968-76 and maintained her initial success as an author, while living mainly in New York. In addition to novels and short stories, Dundy wrote for The New York Times. She wrote books on the actor Peter Finch, the city of Ferriday, Louisiana, and Elvis Presley, about whom she said, "Prior to 1977, I didn't know that Elvis was alive until he died."

As part of her research for the Presley book, Dundy moved from her luxurious suites in London and New York to live for five months in Presley's birthplace of Tupelo, Mississippi. Elvis and Gladys was first published by Macmillan in 1985 (reissued in 2004 by the University Press of Mississippi). The Boston Globe hailed it as "nothing less than the best Elvis book yet." Kirkus Reviews described it as "the most fine-grained Elvis bio ever."