More rollicking end-of-the-road adventures from Yeadon. Yeadon (The Back of Beyond, 1991, etc.), who calls himself ``your average happy traveler,'' now explores nine ``lost worlds,'' blurry regions on the map, where nature still reigns and man is at best a tolerated interloper. First up—and most entrancing—is the Mountains of the Moon, a remote chain of peaks rising from the rain forests of Zaire. Invariably, getting there is half the fun, as Yeadon cruises on an African barge—a floating city, really, with its own government, economy, and teeming masses—smokes pot with Pygmies in the primeval jungle, and feasts on roasted caterpillar. Then on to Venezuela, where he fishes for piranha with llano cowboys, symbol of Latin machismo. In the Venezuelan highlands, he discovers a Catholic hermit and his little hand-built church, the pure white architecture of which brings Yeadon a dash of spiritual awakening. On to Barbuda, an untouristed sliver of land in the Caribbean; to Panama, where he wanders the jungly Darien Gap with Cuna Indians; to the fjords of Chile, which he sails in an orgy of funny self-remonstration (``sailing is for suicidal nuts''); then halfway around the world to Australia's Bungle Bungle, filled with giant termite mounds and otherworldly rock formations, where the author has a brush with death as he nearly drowns in the coral reefs; Tasmania, where he fights leeches in the rain forest; and, finally, the blissful beaches of Fiji, where he dreams of settling down at last. Filled with Yeadon's trademark good humor, contagious love of wandering, and—a new and sometimes awkward element—heavy doses of ecomysticism, sincere but ripe with clichÇ. Our advice: Stick to the sights—they're mind-boggling enough. (Line drawings, maps)
Pub Date: June 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-016656-8
Page Count: 416
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
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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