Dogs are not only our best chance of finding unconditional love, suggests Garber (Vice Versa: Bisexuality and the Erotocism of Everyday Life, 1995) in this wry, literate study of dogs in human culture. They are also the repository of all those model human properties that, in our cynicism, we have ceased to find in each other. ``Dog love is local love, passionate, often unmediated, virtually always reciprocated, fulfilling, manageable. Love for humans is harder.'' Dogs have, says Garber, become the vehicle for our deepest feelings of love and loss, and manifest those qualities—courage, responsibility, loyalty, a sense of values—by which we measure ourselves, but which we rarely exhibit. Garber elaborates on this notion by delving into all manner of dog stories: Dickensian, Wordsworthian, and picaresque modes of dog biography; dogs as military heroes; dogs as Odyssean adventurers (Lassie); dogs as hearthkeepers (Odysseus's Argus). She notes what Descartes, Bentham, Dr. Johnson, Xavier Hollander, Shakespeare, and Virginia Woolf, among others, had to say on the subject, arguing that ``dog stories are universal narratives.'' Garber smartly charts the contested ground that separates human from canine, touching on dog psychology, neo-anthropomorphism, dogs and the law, and the social hierarchy of the stud book. And Garber, whose previous books have focused on the crossing of gender boundaries, delights, often hilariously, in the bisexuality of that unconditional love: Guy or gal, dog or bitch, both love it both ways. No good dog story would be complete without a foray into the realms of bestiality (``he'll never look surprised at something you ask him to do, never make you ashamed, and will never, never talk,'' Garber quotes one enthusiast as saying). Then Garber closes with a stirring chapter on dog loss and the human and canine experience of grief. Quick-witted and entertaining. A dog's life never seemed such a fair prospect. (b&w photos, not seen) (Book-of-the-Month Club/Quality Paperback Book Club alternate selection)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-684-81871-X
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1996
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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