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722 MILES

Name: 722 MILES
Author: Clifton Hood
ISBN: 0-671-67756-X

THE BUILDING OF THE SUBWAYS AND HOW THEY TRANSFORMED NEW YORK

by Clifton Hood ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1993

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As crammed with facts and figures as a rush-hour express is with passengers, this history of the New York subway system stalls time and again. Hood (American History/Hobart and William Smith Colleges) has researched his subject thoroughly: He comments knowledgeably on the geological composition of Manhattan and the surrounding terrain, and demonstrates how subterranean peculiarities affected the construction of the subway. He also shows how, from its beginning, New York's rapid transit was a pawn in the struggle to dominate the financial and political life of the metropolis—a struggle that included August Belmont's monopolization of municipal transportation as well as the Tweed Gang's corrupt control of licensing and labor, control that resulted in tunnel cave-ins and other misfortunes. But when Hood examines how the construction of the subways influenced the expansion of the city, he falters: It's no surprise that the establishment of a rapid and reliable mode of transportation between the city's workplaces and its outlying boroughs fostered the settlement of these previously inaccessible areas. Hood provides a few fresh insights, however, as when he analyzes the discriminatory practices that shaped the original development of the Jackson Heights section of Queens. And though he generally fails to leaven his statistics-heavy text (miles of track laid, number of passengers carried, amount of budget money allocated, etc.) with pertinent anecdotes, his story of class- conscious Vogue editor Edna Woodman Chase is winsome: Chase, upon learning that a member of her staff had flung himself in front of a subway train, said, ``[At Vogue], if we must kill [ourselves], we take sleeping pills.'' Of some interest to urban historians, but slow-going for general readers. (Sixteen pages of b&w photographs—not seen)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1993

ISBN: 0-671-67756-X

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1993

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.