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LEADING BY DESIGN

Name: LEADING BY DESIGN
Author: Bertil Torekull
ISBN: 0-06-662038-4

THE IKEA STORY

by Bertil Torekull ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1999

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From Scandinavia comes a selective corporate history of IKEA, the international purveyor of furniture and housewares, interlarded with an idolatrous biography of its founder, Ingvar Kamprad (whose initials form the first half of the firm’s name; the last two letters are for the Swedish places of origin). In an overblown text that is considerably less appealing than IKEA’s inexpensive furniture, the story of the business is sketched from its birth during WWII to 1998 and its 137th store. If the cultlike, paternalistic theme of the Ikean “family” and the vaunted concern for the lives of “ordinary people” (i.e., customers) is overworked, the awestruck depiction of Kamprad as a visionary genius is risible. The paragon is given to weeping on cue and hugging employees. At one head-office gathering, employees are “given a kind of laying-on of hands. . . . They depart with a fine Christmas present in their arms—three green towels with face cloths.” The story of the poor boy who became a benevolent billionaire concerned with “honor and reputation” doesn’t wash. This hagiography, published last year in Europe, seems to have been authorized in an attempt to answer press reports about Kamprad’s former regard for “Uncle Hitler.” Forget the Founder’s youthful embrace of Nazism; he now regrets it. Of course he does. Kamprad, no longer a Swedish resident for tax reasons, has much to say, in boldface, about himself. He emerges, at best, as a benign despot with a true facility for false humility. The description of the complex business organization is no more complete or reliable than that of the boss. With no serious analysis given to IKEA’s business problems, the book often seems as wobbly as do-it-yourself furniture assembled with the wrong tools and mismatched parts.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-06-662038-4

Page Count: 352

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999

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.