Description
From the Dust Jacket
None of Cornelia Otis Skinner’s many
accomplishments as actress or author came close to matching the phenomenal popularity of Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, which appeared in 1942 and went through more than twenty printings—a total of more than two million copies. A collaboration with her former Bryn Mawr classmate Emily Kimbrough, the memoir charmingly—and quite comically—details the pair’s youthful trip abroad two decades earlier, when they were almost out of their teens and on their own for the first time. From its very beginning, the flavor of the work is deliciously evident, as Emily surprises a naked man in his hotel room before the girls have even embarked. From Montreal to London to Paris, episode follows upon episode, absurdity upon absurdity: shipwreck in the Saint Lawrence River, an astonishingly funny game of deck tennis, Emily hitting a drowning man with a deck chair, Cornelia breaking out with the measles, both girls oblivious to the ill repute of the house in Dieppe where they found lodging one night—with sightseeing and romantic yearnings coming in between. This nostalgic and innocent book is a marvelous voyage, so bright with life and comedy and an air of happy coincidence that it’s very hard to put down, and nearly impossible to forget.
Publishing Info
Our Hearts Were Young and Gay by Cornelia Otis Skinner and Emily Kimbrough with drawings by Alajalov. From the first printing by Tess Press in 2004. The ISBN is 1-57912-436-4. This hardcover book measures about 8-1/4″ x 5-3/4″ and has 210 numbered pages.
Condition
See photo of actual item above. In very good condition for age with some storage on the dust jacket and bumped bottom corners of the board covers. The pages are in very good condition and it feels like this book was never read. No names or other markings. From clean, smoke-free home.
Shipping
Unless you request otherwise, I will wrap the book in plastic wrap to help protect it from the elements, create a custom-made cardboard box to ship it in, and send via Media Mail with Delivery Confirmation tracking. See the shipping page for the cost to send a one-pound Media Mail package. Insurance is an additional cost as described. I am delighted to combine postage and insurance costs if you purchase more than one item. The second item may travel for free or just a few cents more — so it’s worth taking a look at my other items before you complete your order.
Not sure?
If you’d like more information or photos for Our Hearts Were Young and Gay , please feel free to contact me. If it’s the price you don’t like, make a reasonable offer!
Check out my other memoir books — and ask for a combined-postage invoice!
