bookshelf

SHATTERED

Name: SHATTERED
Author: Connell J. J. Chambers
ISBN: 978-0985932237

A VORTEX OF TERROR

by Connell J. J. Chambers ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 10, 2014

Alarming and unsettling; readers should brace themselves for a riveting chronicle of extreme psychopathic illness—and lock...

bookshelf

Poet Chambers’ debut memoir is a harrowing account of a two-year trial with an obsessed, predatory stalker.

It was at Christmastime in Brooklyn when the eccentric, divorced author met Rachelle Richards, a manic, manipulative Australian New-Age publicist on a journalist visa, who promised to get the author discovered. Both outspoken and headstrong, Chambers and Rachelle initially locked horns, and Chambers soon realized that the publicist was mentally unstable. He tried to placate her, which only triggered what he characterizes as her extremely violent psychopathic temperament. She shared revelations about a horrifically abusive childhood, which explained her instability, yet the author dangerously ignored his better judgment and the numerous behavioral red flags and compassionately attempted to find common ground with his “poetic soul mate” (Richards’ characterization). Whether mildly enamored or simply curious about her international connections and ability to get his poetry into print, Chambers freely admits to having recognized and disregarded Richards’ potential volatility after she boasted to him about “the power to make the whole world love you or I can destroy you in a matter of seconds.” Richards’ obsessive pursuit of the author and his increasingly panicked avoidance of her soon expands to nightmarish proportions à la Fatal Attraction. By the time Chambers realized the full extent of Richards’ psychopathic delusions, it was far too late. She embarked on the relentless, pathological victimization of the author. She harassed him at his home, impersonated his fiancee and threatened his life. A restraining order had no effect. Straightforward and honest from beginning to end, the author has written a compulsively readable memoir. And the conclusion offers no easy resolution; while Richards’ grim persecution of Chambers ends abruptly, the entire ordeal proved unshakable and haunting.

Alarming and unsettling; readers should brace themselves for a riveting chronicle of extreme psychopathic illness—and lock their doors.

Pub Date: April 10, 2014

ISBN: 978-0985932237

Page Count: 370

Publisher: Seomraig Publishing

Review Posted Online: Sept. 5, 2014

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

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

bookshelf

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

bookshelf

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.