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THE LETTERS OF BERNARD DEVOTO

Name: THE LETTERS OF BERNARD DEVOTO
Author: Bernard DeVoto
ISBN: 0385037066

by Bernard DeVoto edited by Wallace Stegner ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 11, 1975

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Novelist Stegner, who wrote his friend Benny DeVoto's life in The Uneasy Chair, follows up with 148 letters chosen from the many thousands DeVoto dispatched to private people and public figures. Aside from the opening section, called "Self-Scrutiny" by Stegner, the letters generally grapple with ideas (and with not a few idiot correspondents) and are not chosen to expand on the inner life revealed in the biography. They cover Benny's studies of Mark Twain and his dealings with the hopelessly tangled Twain estate, his life as a teacher at Northwestern, Harvard, and Bread Loaf Mountain Writers Conference, his argumentative volleys for over 20 years from "The Easy Chair" column in Harper's, his spats with Sinclair Lewis and Norman Cousins, Van Wyck Brooks, Malcolm Cowley. Also covered are his involvement in the literary life, his work as a historian, his unflagging devotion to conservation of the West and his dedicated support of Adlai Stevenson for President. Stegner tells us DeVoto suffered most of his life from "nervous depressions, migraines, and blind panics" but that whenever he noted these horrors in others he was the first to help. The letters overflow with vitality and reveal him as less of an intemperate jawbeater than a man with a passionate grip on hard facts, capable of change in the face of superior argument. Vehement and lively — for those with some memory of his rambunctious column.

Pub Date: April 11, 1975

ISBN: 0385037066

Page Count: 416

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1975

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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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.