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THE DEVIL’S DETAILS

Name: THE DEVIL’S DETAILS
Author: Chuck Zerby
ISBN: 1-931229-05-8

A HISTORY OF THE FOOTNOTE

by Chuck Zerby ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 2001

Put this one with other small masterpieces and classics of tone and style—like, say, Strunk & White. Invaluable to any...

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A wonderful little treasure of learning, lightness, and literary history, journalist Zerby’s first outing tracks the footnote through time.

Indefatigably—and effortlessly—charming, the author puts his cards on the table at once, declaring the footnote “one of the earliest and most ingenious inventions of humankind,” adding that it has been for centuries not only “indispensable” for scholars but “a source of endlessly varied delight for the layperson.” Laypeople of all stripes may be pardoned for suspicion here of overstatement, but they’ll find that Zerby far more than proves his point. Offering “a full account of the adventuresome history of the footnote and the many ways it has proved beautiful and desirable,” he introduces us to Richard Jugge of Elizabethan London, the footnote’s apparent inventor, dazzling us with observations, anecdotes, and charms—not least his repeated personifications of the footnote (it may “bring to the door a welcome visitor, perhaps handsome or pretty, sometimes garrulous but often pleasantly sociable”). On we go for a high romp through the Age of Pope (“footnotes are The Dunicad’s obvious target”), an introduction to Aphra Behn, her use of footnotes in poetry, and Pope’s several denigrations of her. For Zerby, the world consists only of those who love the footnote and those who just don’t get it (witness Pope’s effort to “stamp out annotation”). Off he whisks us through the French 18th century via Pierre Bayle (“the Mozart of the footnote”) to England for a look at Edward Gibbon, then to Germany for a slightly mournful visit with Leopold von Ranke (who caused the footnote “to become a scholar”). The droll yet wild ride goes on, coming to a punctiliously graceful yet bumptious end with a hugely risible study of John Updike’s obvious psychological conflict re the footnote.

Put this one with other small masterpieces and classics of tone and style—like, say, Strunk & White. Invaluable to any and all who love the word, wit, and the world.

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2001

ISBN: 1-931229-05-8

Page Count: 150

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2001

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.