uncle takes in troubled niece.

I hope I'm this thoughtful when I'm parenting a teenager; this book is hilarious and heart-warming, but it's also a nice healthy throat-punch to the kind of people who think "gay" and "parenting" are mutually exclusive (and who won't read it, or probably anything not by Ann Coulter).

A heartbreaking story of a homosexual uncle and problematic niece. It shows you that life, though not perfect, is as beautiful as it can be.

Pretty lame. The majority of this book was about the author and his “sophisticated” life. For lack of a better term. Tiffany (Brittany) wasn’t even a troubled teen in such regard and seems the author was just living vicariously through his niece. He never got to lead the life of a serious actor and all he talked about was how “talented” his niece supposedly was and what dreams HE had for HER. Seems as if he was placing HIS lost “reality” on HER.

Honestly, skip over this big SNORE. “Tiffany” was the usual mouthy teenager and hardly got into any SERIOUS trouble. So she was young and naive and had to eventually learn the hard way. Big deal.

A teenaged girl who moves from living with her single mom, with whom she butts heads regularly, into her gay uncle's apartment in New York. Very readable, and quite good.

This book is pretty cheesy, but I liked it. I liked the descriptions of their routines and the insight in to New York city living. The actual teenager-uncle relationship stuff is a bit Oprahish though.

Read for the Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge - a book you've been meaning to read

I put this book on the first page of my actual, hard-copy "to be read" journal in 2005, when the book was first published, so it is kind of the ultimate "been meaning to read it" book for me. And me in 2005 would have loved it, I think, but me in 2015 very much didn't. It was (unexpectedly) about the Need to Make Art, a genre I once loved but now try to avoid because I find it largely insufferable. I also found the numerous asides about the author's sex life to be kind of odd - I wasn't offended by them (if they were the main subject of their own book, I'd probably want to read it), but they felt so out of place in this story. And my perpetual complaint applies here, too: it should have been shorter. 2.5/5 stars.

Neither Uncle Eddy or Tiffany were really that sympathetic of characters. Both acted in ways that seemed unrealistic and fake, as well as juvenile or extra mature.

I have no idea why I decided upon this book. It is not a genre I typically read, but I think I read a review and thought it sounded interesting. Anyway, brilliantly written. Funny, touching, sad, and honest. This memoir is about as good as it gets. The relationship between the uncle and rebellious teen niece is close and strained at the same time. Read it for an eye-opening experience, but also to find out that your relationships with your family aren't dysfunctional, but normal!

thanks lee - sounds interesting!

Possibly 2 1/2 stars, but definitely not my favourite read. I usually really enjoy a memoir, but this book has been picked up and quickly put down by me with disinterest several times over the years until I finally decided to give it a chance... I should have just moved it along perhaps. The author failed to draw me into his world, not did his constant coo-ing over the beauty and talents of his revoltingly behaved niece enamour me to their developing relationship.

A gay, Manhattanite uncle takes in his troubled teenage niece, resulting in a drastic lifestyle change for both of them. Wintle fleshes out the evolution of their sweet-and-sour relationship-- and how it plays out in other areas of their lives-- in an introspective and contemporary style.