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'In this unauthorised biography, acquired for an unprecedented advance and in spectacular secrecy, long-time manager and the man who was there from the very beginning, Barry Humphries takes a behind-the-scenes, no-holds-barred look at an icon of our times - Dame Edna Everage. Superstar, swami, confidante and advisor to royalty, Hollywood stars and international political leaders, Dame Edna's life has catapulted her far from her humble Moonee Ponds beginnings as a suburban housewife to the most elite social and artistic circles in the world.
'Who would have thought that this modest Australian woman could achieve so much from London to Louisiana to New York to Tokyo? Who could have anticipated her global fame? Barry Humphries certainly didn't.' (From the publisher's website.)
Notes
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Dedication: In homage to Emily Perry and Edith Nesbit
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Epigraph: A mask tells us more than a face - Oscar Wilde
Within every man there is the reflection of a woman, and within every woman there is the reflection of a man, Within every man and woman there is also the reflection of an old man and an old woman, a little boy and a little girl. - Hyemeyohsts Storm
No one is unknown except for me - Francis Picabia
Nothing ages a man like living always with the same woman - Norman Douglas
Beginning with Proteus and on through the 'Metamorphoses' of Ovid, down to the wisest and most dearly beloved of Caliphs, Haroun-al-Raschid, everybody worth mentioning has delighted in the sensation of trying be be somebody else. - Edgar Saltus
At last - the truth! - Pietro Aretino
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Drama of the Dame
2010
single work
column
— Appears in: Illawarra Mercury Weekender , 2-3 October 2010; (p. 20-21) -
Amusing Himself
2010
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 25 September 2010; (p. 16) The Daily Telegraph , 16 September 2010; (p. 27) -
A Freshly-Iced Sponge
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Quadrant , January-February vol. 54 no. 1-2 2010; (p. 118)
— Review of Handling Edna : The Unauthorised Biography 2009 single work biography -
Nothing Like a Dame
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 27-28 November 2009; (p. 33)
— Review of Handling Edna : The Unauthorised Biography 2009 single work biography -
The Mask behind the Mask
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian Literary Review , November vol. 4 no. 10 2009; (p. 10)
— Review of Handling Edna : The Unauthorised Biography 2009 single work biography
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Possum Magic
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 26 - 27 September 2009; (p. 7)
— Review of Handling Edna : The Unauthorised Biography 2009 single work biography -
The Mask behind the Mask
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian Literary Review , November vol. 4 no. 10 2009; (p. 10)
— Review of Handling Edna : The Unauthorised Biography 2009 single work biography -
Nothing Like a Dame
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 27-28 November 2009; (p. 33)
— Review of Handling Edna : The Unauthorised Biography 2009 single work biography -
A Freshly-Iced Sponge
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Quadrant , January-February vol. 54 no. 1-2 2010; (p. 118)
— Review of Handling Edna : The Unauthorised Biography 2009 single work biography -
He's the Quiet Type... but She is Not
2009
single work
biography
— Appears in: The Australian , 7 September 2009; (p. 17) -
Nothing Like This Dame
2009
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 20 October 2009; (p. 3) -
Amusing Himself
2010
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 25 September 2010; (p. 16) The Daily Telegraph , 16 September 2010; (p. 27) -
Drama of the Dame
2010
single work
column
— Appears in: Illawarra Mercury Weekender , 2-3 October 2010; (p. 20-21)