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A PASSION FOR BOOKS

Name: A PASSION FOR BOOKS
Author: Dale Salwak
ISBN: 0-312-21884-2

edited by Dale Salwak ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 30, 1999

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A spirited collection of original essays extolling the virtues of the book and the “intoxicating power of the printed word.” Offered as an antidote to the clichÇ that books and reading are threatened by the proliferation of electronic information and entertainment sources, each essay stresses the personal connection of its author to favorite books, writers, genres, or reading practices. Many of the essayists express the pleasures associated with reading, but they also offer insight into how the reading of books helped them to develop both as intellectuals and as fully realized emotional beings. Reading is suggested as a road map to the human interior, which seems to be depreciated as society increasingly fixates upon the manipulation of visual surfaces and information. Of particular interest is “The Pleasures of Reading” by Joseph Epstein, who discovers the sensual nature of his reading practices only after attempting to listen to one of his own novels on an audiocassette. James Shapiro’s “The Sad Demise of the Personal Library” bemoans the conditions that make it more difficult for graduate students and part-time faculty to amass large private book collections like the one that he began in the 1960s with a load of books rescued from the back of a garbage truck. In “The Future of the Academic Book,” Gill Davies explores the connection between books and authorship, pondering how it has been affected by the advent of digital technology. The final verdict is that books will continue to be a nourishing element of the human experience for the foreseeable future. Book enthusiasts will find this collection (edited by Salwak, a professor of English at Citrus College, Calif.) both familiar and reassuring, while younger readers will find much here to inspire them to pursue what could become a lifelong passion for the printed word.

Pub Date: Aug. 30, 1999

ISBN: 0-312-21884-2

Page Count: 228

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999

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.