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WHEN PARTNERS BECOME PARENTS

Name: WHEN PARTNERS BECOME PARENTS
Author: Carolyn Pape Cowan
ISBN: 0-465-01495-6

by Carolyn Pape Cowan & Philip A. Cowan ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 21, 1992

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The authors, clinical psychologists at UC Berkeley, present the results of their 18 years of study of one hundred couples making the transition from partners to parents. Given what the Cowans report, though—turmoil, inconvenience, and marital dissension and possible dissolution—readers might well wonder why anyone would choose to have a baby. The arrival of a child changes individuals and a marriage in every way, say the Cowans—who seem to consider the rewards of parenting as too obvious to elaborate on, and so only summarily allude to the feeling of being a part of the adult world, the indescribable love and delight, the chance to reconnect with one's own parents in new and perhaps more positive ways. Instead, the authors concentrate on the challenges and frustrations of new parenthood: the nearly inevitable placing of more domestic responsibility upon the wife, even in determinedly egalitarian couples; the troubling changes in sex drive and frequency of lovemaking; the lack of support for parents in the world of work and child care; the latent issues of one's own childhood, invariably activated by having a child. The Cowans' solution to all these maladies is couples' groups led by trained therapists to reassure prospective and new parents that they are not alone, to help them achieve realistic expectations, and to allow them to vent frustration and to share solutions. The authors admit that such groups are not widely available, and so they provide some do-it- yourself suggestions, most of them obvious (make time to talk; don't ignore sex and intimacy, etc.). Well intentioned but dully written, and delivering a more depressing view of new parenthood than the authors probably intended.

Pub Date: April 21, 1992

ISBN: 0-465-01495-6

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Basic Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1992

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.