Breakfast with Tiffany: An Uncle's Memoir

When you are a fortysomething gay New Yorker with a stressful job as a film agent, a fruity assortment of friends and the odd obsessive-compulsive tendency, you may not see yourself as an ideal parent. However, when Ed's sister begs him to take in her daughter - the beautiful, capricious and downright difficult Tiffany - Ed rashly agrees. Soon, his life has turned upside down as he tries to deal with an exasperating but loving teenager while learning to be a parent himself. Their relationship develops from culture shock on both sides to an affectionate tolerance of each other's idiosyncrasies and a shared passion for really bad films. Moving, stylish and appealing, this is a book about growing up, about families, about parenting and about having no idea what to do next.

"Funny, warm, and brutally honest, Edwin John Wintle captures the terror and delight of parenting a teenager. A realistic, uncompromising memoir, BREAKFAST WITH TIFFANY is a stark expression of the rollercoaster of hope, despair, sweetness and, most of all, love, that comes of trying to herd the young into the unknown future. Wintle's book will ring true to all who have experienced the ride"
S.E. Hinton (author of THE OUTSIDERS/RUMBLE FISH
"Every parent will find this story provocative, challenging, and ultimately winning. Every teen will wish they had a cool Uncle Eddy. BREAKFAST WITH TIFFANY is a book that both should share, discuss and recommend"
Po Bronson (New York Times Bestselling Author of BOMBARDIERS and WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY LIFE?)
'Breakfast with Tiffany is a nuanced and richly layered story of twenty-first-century family ties. When urban, hip Uncle Eddy rescues his suburban teenage minx of a niece from a tempestuous situation and brings her into his home, they begin the wild adventure of creating a new life. By the end, I wished Uncle Eddy would take me in too. Wintle's writing shines with humour and love, and the bonus is a marvellous sense of place; his appreciation of Manhattan's vibrancy and complex beauty deepens every page'
Frances Mayes
'Ed has lived to tell the tale and does an exceptional job portraying Tiffany as a complex teenager, capable of eliciting sympathy one moment and animosity the next... The light-hearted tone makes a serious subject amusing and Wintle is charmingly self-deprecating.'
Publishers' Weekly
Kirkus Reviews, starred review:
She's 13, he's 40; she's been given her walking papers from her mother, he's the uncle there to catch her: they are a modernized odd couple, and the sparks they throw are a glowing pyrotechnic display.
Tiffany is a piece of work, lustrous and intuitive as the art pieces that share her name, then more like the broken glass you step on in a darkened kitchen late at night. Her uncle Eddy, the narrator, is a gay film agent living in Manhattan. His overwhelmed sister calls: please get Tiffany out of here-meaning her catastrophic Connecticut home and social life-and newcomer Wintle, a brick and a loving uncle, agrees. "I was a single, forty-year-old man stuck in intermission . . . my life needed that proverbial shot in the arm. What I would get, though, would prove to be more like electroshock therapy." Tiffany is a life force with attitude problems, a taste for belly-button jewels and face tackle, who informs Wintle that snorting dust will make you paranoid (heroin makes you mellow, she notes), and can play her uncle's heart like a bongo and crack it like a coconut; Wintle is an obsessive-compulsive "all-time Control Queen" who will rise to the occasion, bringing to it a delightfully nuanced, impractical, caring, ham-handed, heart-gladdening, inclusive, protective approach. Tiffany behaves like a teenager, strewing grief, angst and love in her wake, while her uncle struggles to meet each new challenge head on, taking cues from his own sad youth and fraught adulthood (the ghosts troop out of his closet one by one) with a gorgeous clarity. The story begins and ends with Tiffany's freshman year at high school ("This summer I'm going to need to go on the pill," she says in closing), leaving readers to pray for volumes sophomore through senior.
Here's hoping Wintle gets to negotiate his own film rights. "Whatever," as Tiffany would say, he deserves to make a bundle, split evenly with his bundle.
'Utterly hilarious' ELLE GIRL
‘When 14-year-old Tiffany moved in with her gay uncle in New York in 2001, she turned his life upside down. She was a difficult teen whose mum, a single parent with a drink problem, couldn't cope with her... moving memoir of their first year together'
You magazine, Mail on Sunday 24/7
'Breakfast with Tiffany is an account of the time Wintle, a gay New York film agent, took in his 14-year-old niece, Tiffany, after she'd been acting up with her mum in the suburbs'
Sunday Telegraph 31/7
'Moving . . . a unique memoir packed with humour, with pathos and, above all, with heart' ATTITUDE
'This roller-coaster real-life read has tantrums, tears, love and laughter and will be sure to touch you' COMPANY
'An endearing coming-of-age story set in the Big Apple. It's easy to get caught up in the seamlessly written narrative of Uncle Eddy who, in trying to help save his troubled teen niece winds up saving himself. Wintle bewitchingly captures both the spirit of the angst-ridden girl and his own fear of inadequacy as a substitute parent. A lovely journey of two people becoming a real, modern family'
Elle
'Shifting between twinkling wit and uncomfortable realisations, this is the stunningly honest account of Ed Wintle's life-changing decision to allow his out-of-control niece, Tiffany, to move in. A touching and streetwise story'
Good Housekeeping
'It's very rare we like a story that's based on real events, but sometimes, regular folks have such extraordinary lives. This is one for parents, kids and big, gay obsessive-compulsive uncles too'
Heat
'Prepare to be seriously charmed. Prepare to have your heart wrenched and your cockles warmed. If the book doesn't get you, the inevitable film will. This is a wonderfully photogenic love story . . . Suddenly, Uncle Eddy's ultra-sophisticated life both contracts and expands. He can no longer seek our the quick fix of sexual solace, but his love for Tiffany takes him to new heights of emotion. By the end, my cockles were so warm, you could have fried an egg . . . Touchingly, the love between uncle and niece is one thing that is never in doubt. All parents will laugh and cry over his sudden introduction to the world of hair-raising anxiety and sudden, volcanic rages . . . The most moving element of the book, however, is Wintle's honesty about himself.'
Kate Saunders, SUNDAY TIMES
'A heartwarming account of bringing up a child, full of gentle humour and quirky incidents. It provides conclusive proof that, in this, as in all other relationships, it is the quality of love that counts and not the label anyone might place on it'
Michael Arditti, DAILY MAIL
‘This is one for parents, kids and big, gay obsessive-compulsive uncles too. A gorgeous read’
HEAT - 5* REVIEW
‘Breakfast with Tiffany is a heart-warming, account of bringing up a child, full of gentle humour and quirky incidents. It provides conclusive proof that in this as in all other relationships it is the quality of love that counts and not the label that anyone might place on it’
Daily Mail 12/8
'Ed's comical yet neurotic approach to bringing up a child is amusing, and the witty narrative makes this memoir a charming read. What's more, it's a true story!' HOT
'With a pacey and energetic beginning, Wintle offers some geniunely witty asides, relating startlingly honest and perceptive insights into human relationships and parenthood' GAY TIMES