Naj, a Wall Street Journal writer born and raised in Bengal, travels in Central and South America and the US Southwest in pursuit of pepper specialists and special peppers—all of the hot, capsaicin-endowed varieties known to most of us as chiles. Naj tramps the Andean foothills of Bolivia—a likely candidate for the birthplace of hot peppers—with a botanist seeking the mother of all chiles. He is drawn to the Yucatan by haba§ero, a Mayan staple and the hottest of all peppers. He visits the McIlhenny Company of Avery Island, Louisiana, and digs up ugly controversies surrounding its jealously protected trademark tabasco sauce. He attends a National Pepper Conference in North Carolina, and visits pepper farmers, tasters, breeders (of ``designer chiles''), pathologists, pharmacologists, and enthusiasts in Texas, New Mexico, and elsewhere. Naj's account of all of this goes down easily; and a chapter on peppers' appeal, including speculation on the ``pepper high'' and its possible addictive qualities, has a special interest for the growing cult of North American chile users. His botanical information, though, isn't much help in sorting out the different varieties and names; at times, he seems to toss off peculiar statements of fact without much questioning or trying to reconcile or even cite his sources. Still, an agreeable assemblage of lore and field reportage.
Pub Date: June 9, 1992
ISBN: 0-394-57077-4
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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
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