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THERE THERE NOW

Name: THERE THERE NOW
Author: Carol Wolleson
ISBN: 978-1-71886-653-9

A MEMOIR

by Carol Wolleson ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 2018

A colorful and warm, if somewhat ragged, series of personal vignettes.

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A writer goes for a winding walk down memory lane in this debut memoir.

After 30 years as a successful psychotherapist, Wolleson turns a critical eye on her own past, recognizing both continuity and chaos. A small, blue-collar Oregon town was the backdrop of a mostly happy childhood, where her absent fisherman father and caring but reserved mother raised their three daughters. Despite this relative stability, the author recalls an early and continuous struggle to maintain a solid sense of self, explaining, “I was a frightened, empty person who made myself up as I went along.” Her post-high school life in California coincided with the 1960s and ’70s, where the book takes a sharp turn to recount episodes of LSD trips, communes, nudity, and exotic vacations. Various relationships crop up, ranging from funny to romantic to violent, but all share a marked ambivalence in the telling. Wolleson characterizes this period as unanchored and impulsive, admitting, “I have a secret resumé no prospective employer ever saw, listing the nineteen jobs I had in twenty years between college and graduate school.” After attending many types of therapy, she realized that her passion lay in guiding others through their own psychological growth and healing, and she dedicated years of work to eventually opening her own therapy practice. The book’s final section features musings on the author’s present life, with an emphasis on aging (in body, if not in mind). The memoir feels like sitting down for coffee with a bubbly old friend whose storytelling flits around, only briefly landing on any single anecdote. This allows for paradoxical layers to the writing: an open, confessional quality, but also a reticence that creeps in at important moments; memory that’s alternately thorough and patchy; and the shadow of the present frequently clouding descriptions of the past. In short, Wolleson’s book exemplifies both the charm and frustration inherent in the genre. More emphasis on connecting threads would provide the artfulness and sustained reflection that are lacking here, but the fragmentary nature also feels true to life.

A colorful and warm, if somewhat ragged, series of personal vignettes.

Pub Date: June 15, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-71886-653-9

Page Count: 280

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

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.