As warm and inviting as chicken soup, but not nearly as sustaining—another example of a book idea better suited for a...
A deli enthusiast embarks on an international tour of his favorite food, looking for the last authentic deli establishments.
Growing up in Toronto, journalist Sax went with his family to a Jewish deli every Friday, where he alternated between corned-beef and salami sandwiches, always preceded by a bowl of matzoh ball soup. When he moved to New York after college, he was understandably excited about moving into deli mecca. However, concerned that delis were becoming merely bastions of tourism and franchising, the author decided to go on a quest—starting in New York, traversing the continent and then moving to Europe—to witness and record their history and future. His story starts out with promise, as he chronicles his one-night gig on the pastrami lines at the famed Katz’s Deli on the Lower East Side. The final legs of his journey, which took him to London, France and Poland—home to the roots of much Jewish-American comfort food—are packed with interesting cultural and historical detail. But the middle of the country stretches out bleakly, with each city telling nearly the same story. From Detroit to Chicago to California, there seems to be little variation on the same plight—vestiges of a vibrant deli culture, a few iconic holdouts, but mostly controlled by large companies who supply substandard meat and try to compensate for mediocre food with splashy décor. Sax is an entertaining writer, and the descriptions of the food are often mouthwatering. Unfortunately, there are only so many ways to discuss corned-beef, pastrami and rye bread.
As warm and inviting as chicken soup, but not nearly as sustaining—another example of a book idea better suited for a long-form magazine piece.Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-15-101384-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2009
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
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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