Whatever the subject—whether “high” or “low”—Trillin writes exquisitely.
A collection of 18 essays, observations, pronouncements and musings on life and folks in Texas.
The earliest piece dates from 1970 and focuses on Lee Otis Johnson, a black community organizer and militant who was convicted of giving one marijuana cigarette to an undercover police officer and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. (One of the contexts of this judicial decision is that the judge’s son had been convicted on a marijuana charge and been given two years’ probation.) New Yorker contributor Trillin (About Alice, 2006, etc.) sensitively probes the racial situation in Houston that led to this outrage. Although he maintains the stance of an objective reporter, it’s clear he’s intent on exposing the inherent inequity of the system. “New Cheerleaders,” a piece dating from 1971, examines the changing racial makeup of Crystal City High School and how that change impacted (among other things) the Anglo understanding that only one of the four cheerleaders would be Mexican-American, a revision that was the result of organizer José Angel Gutiérrez shaking up the local community. Some of Trillin’s pieces are short and funny (on George W. Bush’s mangled syntax, for example, and whether it’s traceable to the wearing of cowboy boots), while others are short and moving, especially the tribute to Molly Ivins that Trillin composed as her eulogy upon her death in 2007. The longest essay scrutinizes the rise and fall of John Bloom (aka Joe Bob Briggs), whose reviews of splatter films and outrageous racial comments divided Dallas in the 1980s.
Whatever the subject—whether “high” or “low”—Trillin writes exquisitely.Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-292-72650-5
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Univ. of Texas
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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