bookshelf

GROWING AT THE SPEED OF LIFE

Name: GROWING AT THE SPEED OF LIFE
Author: Graham Kerr
ISBN: 978-0-399-53612-0

A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF MY FIRST KITCHEN GARDEN

by Graham Kerr ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2011

bookshelf

Galloping Gourmet host Kerr (Day-by-Day Gourmet Cookbook, 2007, etc.) offers the cautionary tale of his first kitchen garden.

Around the time Michelle Obama broke ground on the White House garden, the author was also trying his hand at the “earth-to-table process.” Kerr relates to any would-be gardeners his story of novice green-thumbing and provides a helpful “Need-to-Know” section for others to follow. He details the cultivation and cooking of 60 edible plants, the majority of which are accompanied by a handful of recipes and supplementary nutritional information. Although the author aims to inspire others to increase their daily fruit and vegetable intake, Kerr’s labor- and money-intensive trials may turn off some potential gardeners. And while he may intend the book to reach out to space-starved city-dwellers in addition to rural plotters, the author provides little useful advice for an economical and efficient urban kitchen garden. Kerr’s account of his first growing season is one of experience, not expertise, but he pulls it off with an enjoyably humorous and familiar tone. The book, however, falls short as a reference work for novices; the author often suggests reaching out to a “local knowledge expert,” leaving much of the research up to the reader, even in the important Need-to-Know list. But he does provide helpful instructions for how each fruit and vegetable should be handled once it arrives in the kitchen, whether from one’s own garden or the greenmarket down the street. A book lacking in gardening know-how but quite useful for its cooking tips.

Pub Date: March 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-399-53612-0

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Perigee/Penguin

Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

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

bookshelf

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

bookshelf

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

bookshelf

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.