A highly readable and workmanlike history of Grace Kelly— still one of the saddest stories ever told. Regrettably, Lacey overanalyzes, dumbing down a well-researched effort. Even in her MonÇgasque tomb, Princess Grace, the former Gracie Kelly of East Falls, Pa., receives as many as 9,000 visitors a day. Lacey (Little Man, 1991, etc.) paces through her life, step by step, explaining why Grace did this and why Grace did that, and what it all meant. Terms like ``inner child,'' ``enabler,'' and ``empowering'' bring her biography into the '90s, as does Lacey's insistence on allowing a more honest portrait of Grace to emerge from the ruin of illusion. The animus of Grace's life appears to have been her handsome, authoritarian father, Jack Kelly, champion oarsman and head of Kelly for Brickwork. Grace had a series of affairs with older men, including Clark Gable, Oleg Cassini, William Holden, and Philippe of the Waldorf. Much is made of the fire-and-ice duality of Grace's character: docile in a Junior League cashmere coat and then dancing naked to Russian music in front of her lover. There are spicy anecdotes and good Hollywood gossip. Grace makes it to the top, but once she boards the U.S.S. Constitution for Monaco, her life's a downhill proposition. Apparently her dysfunctional family couldn't hold a candle to Rainier's. The prince's mother arrived at the royal wedding with her newest protÇgÇ, a paroled jewel thief, and decided immediately to despise Grace. Rainier was mean and moody; her children were mean and spoiled. ``Grace had become everybody's doormat,'' says Lacey. He publishes new information from interviews with her ``toy boys,'' the lovers she had in middle age, and Rogev Bencze, who investigated the fatal car crash. In the end little of the biography is as eloquent as the cover portrait. But Lacey creates a powerfully engaging woman, then mercilessly, he shows us how Grace did not live happily ever after. And if she couldn't do it, what chance do the rest of us have? (32 b&w photos, most not seen) (100,000 first printing; first serial to Vanity Fair; Literary Guild main selection)
Pub Date: Sept. 28, 1994
ISBN: 0-399-13872-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1994
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
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
