What is there to say about a cookbook whose the author openly admits, ``Personally, I can't cook''? Davis, who played the ever- devoted housekeeper, Alice, on The Brady Bunch, supplies fatuous commentary (``A nice show about nice people who were mostly very nice to each other. Gosh, that doesn't sound so terrible, does it?''), along with updates on each of the cast members (Christopher Knight, who played Peter, has appeared on ``The Love Boat,'' as has his TV sibling Maureen McCormick, better known as Marcia). Lines from episodes are plopped onto the page without any context. Recipes by playwright Newcomer (co-founder of the Scottsdale Culinary Festival) and theatrical director Smolen are linked to the show only through nonsensical names like ``Cindy's Buttery Just Butter Cookies'' and ``House of Cards Hamburgers.'' Apparently Alice rarely served the kids any fruits or vegetables. Dishes are heavy on prepared foods (many desserts incorporate store-bought candy) and red meat (Sam the Butcher's influence, no doubt), but if these are meant to reflect the Brady era, where do pesto and Brie come in? Cookies made with instant oatmeal and Snickers bars are way too sweet, and St. Paddy's Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread has the texture of sawdust and a dog-biscuit taste only Tiger could love. A final chapter gives recipes from the cast members themselves, including Eve Plumb's lamely joking instructions for making boiled water out of ice. Even intense nostalgia cannot justify this book. (Photos, not seen)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1994
ISBN: 1-55853-307-9
Page Count: 256
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1994
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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