by Cash Peters ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 21, 2009
A tongue-in-cheek exploration of the reality behind reality TV.
NPR commentator and BBC TV critic Peters casts about the globe in search of hidden lands and gets a whole lot more than he bargained for.
With his career in broadcasting idling away, Peters was desperate for a break. Though it wasn’t exactly what he had in mind, he reluctantly accepted the offer of a reality-TV hosting gig. Thus began his yearlong, whirlwind globetrotting tour of disaster. The theme? Throw the Westerner into far-flung locations, à la Survivor, and let him fend for himself amid the natives. From Cambodia to Dubai to Morocco, Peters stumbled along, braving third-rate hotel rooms and third-world airlines en route to the next exotic locale. For viewers at home, Peters was the lone traveler, charging into a world of risk-laden adventure. But as he points out, with cameramen, field technicians and field producers, “I can't possibly be alone. Yet, in the name of maintaining the illusion and being entertained, they and we pretend I am.” After two seasons on the air, the show was canceled. “The main reason for the cancellation wasn't a secret,” he writes. “It was the viewers. More specifically, there weren't any.” Illustrated by one hilarious descent into madness after another, Peters undermines the idea that there are still areas in the world untouched by Western influence. It seems that everything has already been explored. But most TV viewers are just looking for an escape. “There's no limit to the extent of human gullibility when it comes to believing what they're told,” he writes. “And the more far-fetched or ludicrous an idea is, the more people are likely to buy into it.”
A tongue-in-cheek exploration of the reality behind reality TV.Pub Date: April 21, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-307-39635-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Three Rivers/Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2009
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
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
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
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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