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MISTER SATAN'S APPRENTICE

Name: MISTER SATAN'S APPRENTICE
Author: Adam Gussow
ISBN: 0-679-45022-X

A BLUES MEMOIR

by Adam Gussow ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 2, 1998

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A fun behind-the-scenes look at the formation of an interracial blues duo during racially troubled times in New York City. White blues musician Gussow meets Sterling Magee, a.k.a. Mister Satan, while on the rebound from a failed relationship. The two play together on the streets of Harlem, where Gussow, who’d learned his way around a harmonica with the help of mutual friend Nat Riddles, quickly becomes acclimated to the overwhelmingly black neighborhood. However, with racial violence erupting in the neighborhoods of Howard Beach and Bensonhurst, the duo soon finds its lighter half enjoying less latitude uptown. The necessity of taking their show on the road, a necessity precipitated by these unfortunate events, becomes the beginning of a touring and recording career for Satan & Adam, as they bill themselves. They also receive a big push by getting a 48-second cameo in Irish rock band U2’s film Rattle & Hum. In his first book, Gussow shows an English major’s love of words (he’s a doctoral candidate at Princeton), and he can sometimes strain a metaphor to the point of breaking. But for the most part, he’s a fine writer, creating two parallel narratives—one beginning with his meeting Nat Riddles and the other starting earlier, with his first love in high school’so that when the book ends, the entire story is told. Gussow renders Mister Satan as a volatile but lovable character who owes more to the Satan of Milton than of the Bible. Gussow’s Satan is a gnostic prophet who frequently predicts the end of the world, only to be forced to concede that he’s wrong. Gussow learns to take the more peculiar aspects of Mister Satan’s personality in stride and becomes a stronger, more tolerant person in the progress. You don’t need to be a blues fan to love this tale; but if you are, you’ll relate to it that much more (16 pages photos, not seen) (Author tour)

Pub Date: Nov. 2, 1998

ISBN: 0-679-45022-X

Page Count: 416

Publisher: Pantheon

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1998

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
WHOSE BLUES?
by Adam Gussow

- BOOK REVIEW
Busker's Holiday
by Adam Gussow

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NUTCRACKER

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

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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

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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

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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.