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CITY OF ANGLES

Name: CITY OF ANGLES
Author: Al Martinez
ISBN: 0-312-13944-6

A DRIVE-BY PORTRAIT OF LOS ANGELES

by Al Martinez ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1996

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An elegy for the city that once was ridiculed as the mecca of mellow and is now ridiculed as the capital of free-floating hostility. Los Angeles Times columnist Martinez applies wit, compassion, and a thorough knowledge of the turf to a mostly predictable series of subjects, including gangs, crime, health nuts, fires, earthquakes, bizarre architecture, celebrities, and the ``abused, downtrodden, miserable San Fernando Valley,'' which produces 80 percent of America's adult videos within the ruins of the model family-oriented suburb. A minor flaw is that the reader is constantly reminded of the author's day job: The book is written in short, punchy passages, and the insights are sharper than they are deep. But Martinez offers keen studies of, among other topics, the reptilian morality of the television industry (for which he has written), the bland corruption of local politics, and the inner city that lies a universe away from the Hollywood dream factory. ``So many of the young men of the 'hood have died in violence,'' he writes, ``that it is no longer a single reportable statistic, but a sadness that overlays the black ghetto like a mist of grief.'' Martinez is especially good on the Rodney King riots, the fate of the hapless streets on which the freeways have been brutally built, the blasÇ silliness of the star-studded Malibu beach community, and Angelenos' reaction to a naked woman striding down a busy thoroughfare (indifference, except for those drivers who curse her for delaying the commute). The great unanswered question Martinez raises about L.A. is why anyone, himself included, would continue to live there. This ``drive-by portrait'' is a good ride.

Pub Date: March 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-312-13944-6

Page Count: 176

Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
I’LL BE DAMNED IF I’LL DIE IN OAKLAND
by Al Martinez

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LAST CITY ROOM
by Al Martinez

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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.