Her cunning as a culinary essayist, memoirist, and fiction writer won't fully prepare Fisher's many fans for her gusto as an informal correspondent. The long-lived Californian (1908—92), whose more than two dozen books (To Begin Again, 1992, etc.) also chronicled her extended stays in Provence and other parts of Europe, wrote letters with the sort of committed lax that some authors reserve solely for their published books and articles. Thankfully, though, Fisher seemed to find herself with special joy as a writer when writing to someone. The more than 60 years covered by these letters offer a changeable, canoeing, and unself-conscious portrait of the writer by her own highly skilled hand. They also vividly suggest the shifts in opportunities for American women as the decades passed in this century. Unlike her previously published writing, the letters are less often travelogues or sensuous surveys of adventures in appetite than they are a gathering chorus of Fisher's monologues about her family, her marriages (three), her friends, the work of writing, the business of publishing and other good reasons to live for as long as possible. Her correspondents here include Julia Child, James Beard, longtime Esquireeditor Arnold Gingfich, and Knopf editor Judith Jones. Yet mainly she wrote to people who weren't famous, and her arena mostly wasn't all that worldly. Nor was her life especially privileged, despite the suggested enchantments of her sentences. Fisher seemed to take charge of any catastrophe falling on those near to her; a large part of the record shows her fighting valiantly and generously on their behalf, perhaps with a touch of inherited masochism. At the same time, however, she could insist on freedoms for herself that were not then fashionable, and with exhilarating gumption. So much to inspire; too much to summarize.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1998
ISBN: 1-887178-46-5
Page Count: 560
Publisher: Counterpoint
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1997
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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