America's most popular grump returns with another collection of newspaper columns that find fault with everything from the human ear to whistling to mattresses to postal abbreviations. True, as the title says, there's a bit of sweet here—tributes to Frank Sinatra, to William Paley, to a particularly handsome brick wall- -but, overall, these 130 pieces show Rooney at his most typically sour, generally amusing but with a shtick that's predictable and not always charming (``We're lucky the Japanese don't speak English''; ``I'm ambivalent about letting women reporters in men's locker rooms. I admit it would be unfair to let male reporters in and keep females out. Life and locker rooms are unfair''). Still, Rooney's barbs and musings often hit the bull's-eye (``Manufacturers of all products insist on making them smell like something they aren't''; ``The most annoying sounds on earth are often the small ones. A dripping faucet in the middle of the night....''), and his many fans will be glad to learn that his world is just as annoying and perplexing—and funny—as ever.
Pub Date: Oct. 22, 1992
ISBN: 0-399-13774-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 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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