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AN ADIRONDACK PASSAGE

Name: AN ADIRONDACK PASSAGE
Author: Christine Jerome
ISBN: 0-06-016435-2

THE CRUISE OF THE CANOE SAIRY GAMP

by Christine Jerome ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 13, 1994

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Nearly a hundred years after a 19th-century writer paddled and portaged 266 miles through the Adirondack wilderness in a nine- foot, ten-and-a-half-pound canoe, writer/editor Jerome, inspired by that very same canoe seen in a museum, makes and records a similar journey. In the summer of 1883, George Washington Sears (pen name Nessmuk), a leading contributor to Forest and Stream, a major New York sporting weekly of his day, traveled the length of the Adirondack river system in the canoe which he called the Sairy Gamp (after a Dickens character). Raquette Lake, Blue Mountain Lake, Long Lake, Upper Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake, Upper St. Regis Lake, Eagle Lake, Lake Placid: in those days, these waters were public highways and canoeists could travel hundreds of miles without impediment. Stagecoach lines, railroads, and steamers brought hordes of tourists to the large resort hotels that developed along these lake shores—the boom era of the Adirondack ``camp'' was in its heyday. In the latter part of the 1880's, however, the wealthy began to buy up the wilderness and restrict access to the public. The wilderness that Jerome paddles through on her 180-mile trip is in many ways the same and in many ways changed. Most of the original hotels have by now burned down, but development is still a heated issue in these parts. Jerome uses her adventure as an opportunity to ponder history and nature along her route. For instance, the drowning that was the basis of Theodore Dresiser's novel An American Tragedy took place in these waters. And at all times, she employs Sears' experience as a sort of spiritual pointer. Part journal, part biography and part historical account of an era when the great Adirondack wilderness camps were at their height, Jerome combines outdoor adventure, natural history and personal insight in a satisfying manner.

Pub Date: April 13, 1994

ISBN: 0-06-016435-2

Page Count: 224

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1994

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.