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RISING IN THE WEST

Name: RISING IN THE WEST
Author: Dan Morgan
ISBN: 0-394-57453-2

THE TRUE STORY OF AN 'OKIE' FAMILY FROM THE GREAT DEPRESSION THROUGH THE REAGAN YEARS

by Dan Morgan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 30, 1992

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An account of the Okie migration to and love affair with California, from Washington Post reporter Morgan (Merchants of Grain, 1979). One summer when he was in college, Morgan retraced the route of John Steinbeck's Joad family, from Oklahoma to the Promised Land of California. The story of this great inland migration continued to fascinate him, and in the 1980's he researched a quintessential Okie family, the Tathams, as a kind of follow-up to The Grapes of Wrath. The Tathams were from eastern Oklahoma—Joad country—and, in fact, Morgan interviewed people who were long ago interviewed by Steinbeck. The Tathams have some outlaws in their ancestry, some bootleggers, but are descended mostly from hardscrabble pioneers who came over the Ozark plateau from Appalachia and made a living farming, working in the mines, and following various harvests north. Their no-nonsense, insular Pentecostalism held them together, and would carry them through the vicissitudes of California, too. Morgan follows them west to the migrant camps but also to modern California, where, for the most part, they have prospered in big farming, the defense industry, real estate, and even professional football. Not exactly a minority group, the Okies were and often remain a distinctive community, and retain strong ties to Oklahoma and to their faith, tested nowadays with issues like school prayer and abortion. A history of one family and a rich look at how we came to be what we are. If nothing else, Morgan will send you back to Steinbeck—which is a tribute to both writers. (Eight pages of judiciously selected photos.)

Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1992

ISBN: 0-394-57453-2

Page Count: 512

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1992

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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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.