Andrews's Catalan Cuisine (1988) was an impressive cookbook and a captivating gastronomic travelogue. But this collection of food talk in short bites, most with a few recipes appended, is less rewarding. Andrews writes a food column for Metropolitan Home magazine, and many of these 25 slight pieces would be fine for that more ephemeral forum (in fact, a dozen of them are partially and loosely based, according to Andrews, on columns that appeared in Metropolitan Home or in The Los Angeles Times). Many, however, are just carp and diatribe, without the wit required to make such material worth preserving. One piece, ``Down with Three-Star Restaurants,'' offers some surprising revelations—such as the use of canned or frozen vegetables at some of these restaurants—though it would be of even greater interest if more of the offending establishments were named. But other pieces, on ``wine bozos'' and, especially, on Americans' food ignorance and processed-food diets, add little to a now-common complaint. John and Karen Hess put down American food ways brilliantly in The Taste of America (1977); in comparison, Andrews is weary and predictable. He also insults by overgeneralizing and by setting up straw dolts as representative of ``us.'' To be sure, Andrews makes better reading than does the general run of blurby food-trend pushers; but this sampling doesn't rate shelf-space beside such heavies as M.F.K. Fisher and John Thorne.
Pub Date: Nov. 16, 1992
ISBN: 0-553-09021-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Bantam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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