bookshelf

LIFE

Name: LIFE
Author: Lisa Sugarman
ISBN: 978-1494798130

IT IS WHAT IT IS

by Lisa Sugarman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 13, 2014

bookshelf

In this collection of previously published opinion columns, Sugarman shares her gently humorous, inspirational musings about life.

“I’ve got an incredibly long stream of consciousness with endless opinions on everything from life and parenting to relationships and health and everything in between,” says Sugarman in this compendium of her “It Is What It Is” columns, originally published in the Marblehead Reporter, a Massachusetts regional newspaper. In short essays averaging about 1,000 words each, she explores general-interest topics with a wry but mostly upbeat tone, often emphasizing the importance of adopting a positive, compassionate view of life. “Walk a While in Someone Else’s Cast” is typical of her approach: She grouses about the inconvenience of being in a boot cast for several weeks and makes a joke about her husband, Dave, serving as her “cabana boy,” and finally urges readers to appreciate their own mobility and what they have in life. Sugarman addresses seasonal and holiday themes several times, extolling the virtues of spring cleaning and encouraging folks to stick to New Year’s resolutions, for example. Some darkness peeks through, on occasion; “Where have all the Good People Gone?” expresses her anger and sadness that no one stopped to help her teenage daughter’s friend, who suffered an injury while running. “An Ode to Mister Rogers,” however, is a more representative piece; in it, she expresses her affinity with genial TV icon Fred Rogers and shows the value of regular routines and being nice. None of the author’s riffs are unique or earth-shattering, as many bloggers currently cover similar turf, and her attempt to make her hometown of Marblehead, Mass., a “character” in this collection isn’t fully successful. That said, Sugarman is a professional, accomplished writer, and her easy-to-read essays should prove smoothly satisfying to general readers. Appealing, embracing essays about everyday life.

Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2014

ISBN: 978-1494798130

Page Count: 204

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: March 24, 2014

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

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.