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THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DONOVAN

Name: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DONOVAN
Author: Donovan Leitch
ISBN: 0-312-35252-2

THE HURDY GURDY MAN

by Donovan Leitch ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 2005

Romances, odysseys, tax evasion, drug busts, true love—it's all here, although a bit more tiresome and credit-demanding than...

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The rise, reign and early retirement of 1960s British pop superstar Donovan.

His early years spent in post-World War II Glasgow, his leg weakened by a polio vaccination, Leitch's childhood was the gritty but honest sort, peopled with decent folk struggling to get by. He yearned for more—a life worthy of Jack Kerouac—and accordingly hit the road to spend a couple of vagabond teenage years on the beaches of Cornwall. While playing small clubs on the Beat scene, he was discovered, then taken to London's Tin Pan Alley, and finally made a sudden and unexpected ascent into the pop stratosphere, all within the space of mere months. Here, he discusses how it all came about, and why he eventually left it behind: how Beat culture evolved into the flower power scene, and the series of characters he met on his personal (frequently very drug-fueled) quest toward peace and love. But for all of his velvet capes and mystical journeys, Leitch was also a serious musician, constantly expanding his sound with various styles: Celtic, jazz, classical, Indian, Caribbean and anything else that struck his fancy. He associated with the biggest musicians of the time, including the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix. And, he points out countless times, he was there first. He was the first to play electric guitar at a folk concert, he says, well before Dylan did at Monterrey Folk: “Bob's experiment that August of 1965 would be hailed as the first 'folk-rock' fusion, but I went electric on stage back in the spring of that year.” He also notes that “the dawning consciousness of my spiritual quest appeared on the new album Rubber Soul”—a Beatles album.

Romances, odysseys, tax evasion, drug busts, true love—it's all here, although a bit more tiresome and credit-demanding than one might expect from the original Mellow Yellow.

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2005

ISBN: 0-312-35252-2

Page Count: 320

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2005

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.