In a secular age, here's an attempt to respiritualize the calendar with a year's worth of essays—some reprinted from Christianity Today and Modern Liturgy—covering every major Christian feast. The Chrysostom Society, whose members authored this collection, is a loose affiliation of Christian writers who assemble once a year to discuss their work. A few big names jump out—Madeleine L'Engle, Walter Wangerin, Jr., Gregory Wolfe, Larry Woiwode—but the rest are lesser lights. The title notwithstanding, only a handful of the pieces here are fiction—most notably L'Engle's quirky tale (``Transfiguration'') of a man, a thief, and a merry Christmas—with the bulk being memoirs of happy childhood or struggling adulthood. Five authors chip in twice: Wangerin, who longs to be pregnant like Mary (``Annunciation'') and recalls his boyhood desire to see Jesus (``Maundy Thursday''); Emilie Griffin, who exposes the religious roots of Mardi Gras in ``Shrove Tuesday'' and pays homage to the ``Solemnity of Mary''; William Griffin, who lauds ``All Saints'' and compares Herod's slaughter of first-born males (``Holy Innocents'') to modern-day abortion; Robert Siegel, with poems marking ``Ash Wednesday'' and ``Palm Sunday''; and Virginia Stem Owens, who commemorates Christ's Passion in ``Passion Sunday'' and ``Good Friday'' (``the day you can do nothing''). Among the best of the rest, Alice Slaiku Lawhead struggles to remember God in the midst of ``Advent''; editor Peterson (Spiritual Theology/Regents College) recalls the ``Christmas'' that his parents skipped the tree, a lesson in humility; ``Trinity Sunday'' triggers memories of early loves for Karen Burton Mains; Philip Yancey learns the meaning of ``irreversible'' on ``Easter Sunday.'' Harold Fickett, Luci Shaw, John Leax, Gregory Wolfe, Calvin Miller, Shirley Nelson, and Stephen R. Lawhead round out the contributors, who invariably catch the essence of the holidays in well-mannered prose shimmering with images of candles, angels, a loving God. A clever conceit, carefully crafted—and just in time for Christmas.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-02-525430-8
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1992
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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