An odd idea, well done but with, it would seem, a relatively small audience. The editors have gathered together the transcripts of a number of commencement speeches given at American colleges and universities in the 1980s and ’90s by a variety of notables and celebrities (including Dan Rather, Carl Sagan, Mario Cuomo, and Ronald Reagan, among others). A number of the speeches are surprisingly good: funny, frank, even occasionally stirring. Others, sounding both glib and bland, would seem to indicate the homogenizing presence of ghostwriters. The best pieces include Russell Baker’s hilarious address offering advice to graduates (—Don—t go around in clothes that talk. There’s already too much talk in the world—); Toni Morrison’s powerful meditation on violence and hatred; and Hank Aaron’s heartfelt discussion of courage. A final section gathers together commencement speeches given over the past century (including addresses by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Winston Churchill, and Martin Luther King Jr.), remind one of how unique and lasting a truly great commencement address can be. Few of the contemporary pieces, affecting as some of them are, reach those heights.
Pub Date: May 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-688-16033-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1998
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
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