by David Rakoff edited by Timothy G. Young ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 27, 2015
A hit-and-miss selection that is more of a footnote to Rakoff’s career than a summary of it.
A posthumous, clearinghouse collection by the writer and NPR humorist.
When Rakoff died of cancer in 2012, he achieved an even higher profile with the publication of his well-received novel in verse, Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish (2013), in which much of the bittersweet power stemmed from the fact that the author was in the midst of contemplating his own mortality. The original Kirkus review said that it “provides a fitting memorial to a humorist whose embrace of life encompassed its dark side,” and it is republished in its entirety as the closing piece here, comprising almost a quarter of this collection’s contents. A couple of lengthy interviews with NPR’s Terry Gross also fill a large portion, as Rakoff discusses collections or pieces that aren’t in this “uncollected” anthology. There are also transcripts from a few of the author’s This American Life contributions, with one finding him responding with the verse of Dr. Seuss to Kafka’s Gregor Samsa on his plight as a cockroach (which now seems like a prelude to the verse novel). The rest of the collection is scattershot—travel pieces, op-eds, memoir, one fictional short story, an online diary. Perhaps the best of these stand-alone selections is “The Love that Dare Not Squeak Its Name,” originally from Salon, in which Rakoff’s interpretation of E.B. White’s Stuart Little as a seminal gay icon will make it difficult for readers to see the mouse-child in any other light. In the interviews with Gross, she stresses how “really funny” Rakoff is, and his performances with her confirm it, but humor is rarely the focus of the written pieces and only occasionally the byproduct. Rakoff completists will want this, even though it’ll give them two copies of the novel that they already own.
A hit-and-miss selection that is more of a footnote to Rakoff’s career than a summary of it.Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-307-94647-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Anchor
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
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by William Strunk & E.B. White ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 15, 1972
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
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
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