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WASHINGTON SCHLEPPED HERE

Name: WASHINGTON SCHLEPPED HERE
Author: Christopher Buckley
ISBN: 1-4000-4687-4

WALKING IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL

by Christopher Buckley ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2003

As much a love letter as we’re ever likely to get from an author who usually prefers satire to sentiment.

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Longtime D.C. resident and novelist Buckley (No Way to Treat a First Lady, 2002, etc.) turns his wry gaze on our nation’s monuments and museums, ostensibly leading four walking tours of major sights.

Our first tour begins in Union Station, runs through the Capitol Building and on to a good number of museums on the Mall. Along with a tidy summary of the original vision and prickly personality of city designer Pierre Charles L’Enfant, the reader gets a general history of the Capitol, and extended practical advice on how best to tour the West Wing of the National Gallery of Art. A swing through the National Air and Space Museum cues Buckley to reminisce about the day when, as a lowly speechwriter flying on Air Force Two, he was accidentally handed Vice President Bush’s list of top-secret nuclear code words. Detours such as these are what make the book. One particularly memorable digression chronicles the misfortune of a stone donated by Pope Pius IX toward the completion of the Washington Monument; a posse from the Know-Nothing party tossed the “fiendish ‘Pope Stone’ ” into the Potomac. Tour two leads the reader through the great monuments and discusses the scuttlebutt behind the erection of each and every one, from Washington to Lincoln with stops in between at the Vietnam Veterans, Korean Veterans, FDR, and Jefferson memorials. The third walk takes a short jaunt through Lafayette Square, former front lawn of the White House, to Ford’s Theater, which prompts a short, moving report on the night Lincoln died. Continuing that somber note, the final tour visits Arlington National Cemetery, where Buckley’s patriotic verve gets plenty of room to move.

As much a love letter as we’re ever likely to get from an author who usually prefers satire to sentiment.

Pub Date: April 1, 2003

ISBN: 1-4000-4687-4

Page Count: 160

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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HAS ANYONE SEEN MY TOES?
by Christopher Buckley

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MAKE RUSSIA GREAT AGAIN
by Christopher Buckley

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THE JUDGE HUNTER
by Christopher Buckley

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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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.