An irreverent, heartfelt work that cheerfully wanders through somber topics.
A photographer and museum curator’s collection of meditations and conversations on art, writing, and life in general.
After a friendly introduction, Peterson’s (The Blossoming of the World, 2011, etc.) book immediately jumps into heavy topics, beginning with caring for a parent with Alzheimer’s disease, but it does so without losing much of its light tone. This lightheartedness persists as the book branches out into a variety of other subjects and formats. There are transcripts of informal conversations between photographers as they reminisce about how they started and an email exchange between the author and his best friend, Jan, about pursuing art while coping with chronic illness (the author has Parkinson’s disease). By recognizing other voices, the author shows appreciation for those he admires and who’ve supported him in a way that doesn’t often come across in solitary reflections. The volume’s title comes from an account of a moment when the author was struck by the beauty of a deer in his yard; in it, he tries to explain why he stopped to watch it for nearly an hour. Overall, this book attempts to find ways to talk about personal feelings (in art and life) with someone one cares about, even if one can’t necessarily share the precise feeling. To that end, there are stories about the distress of missing a moment of possible mutual understanding; in one chapter, Peterson expresses admiration for his dog but confusion about its erratic insecurities. The author’s writing does sometimes depend too much on idiom, but that same playful inclination sometimes gives the book unexpected momentum. For instance, he describes friends and family, in a moment of slightly melancholic reflection, as “the soil from which we”—that is, he—“grew.” Later, during an essay about Parkinson’s and his attempts to ward off its effects, Peterson characterizes his disease as being like a pack of uncaring wolves, and unlike himself, “the wolves have nothing to prove.” Selections from the author’s photography emphasize the painterly aesthetic of his writing.
An irreverent, heartfelt work that cheerfully wanders through somber topics.Pub Date: April 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-9990375-1-5
Page Count: 172
Publisher: Due Santi Press
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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