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COUNTING MY CHICKENS

Name: COUNTING MY CHICKENS
Author: Duchess of Devonshire
ISBN: 0-374-13029-9

AND OTHER HOME THOUGHTS

by Duchess of Devonshire ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2002

Slight but readable: to be dipped into at leisure rather than read in one go.

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Miscellaneous thoughts and observations by the proprietress of one of England’s stateliest homes.

Born Deborah Mitford, youngest of the six famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view and which one you’re talking about) sisters, the duchess is no stranger to either writing or country life. Although she has staked out a considerably smaller patch of literary turf than sisters Nancy or Jessica, it’s nevertheless one for which she shows considerable affection and enthusiasm, revolving as it does around Chatsworth, the Derbyshire estate inherited by her husband. During her long and eventful life, the duchess has overseen its conversion from a crumbling white elephant into one of Britain’s best-known and most visited Great Houses, as well the headquarters of a thriving business selling specialty foods and other appurtenances of gracious living. Her sixth book about life at Chatsworth contains diary excerpts, occasional pieces, and reminiscences, including cameo appearances by JFK, Evelyn Waugh, and Lucien Freud, among others. At times she sounds a bit like a P.G. Wodehouse character come to life, railing against such modern inconveniences as government regulation and anti-foxhunting crusaders, or stating the obvious with the serene self-assurance that only centuries of breeding can confer: “Windows. We have got to have them to keep out weather and burglars.” Elsewhere, however, she’s charmingly down to earth, musing on the pleasures of gardening and raising poultry, or gushing about her love of Elvis Presley. Due to its grab-bag nature, this is occasionally rambling and choppy, particularly at the beginning; the best pieces are the longer ones that close out the volume, particularly an amusing account of a wartime journey transporting a goat by rail from the Scottish Hebrides to London and a brief memoir of her famously eccentric family.

Slight but readable: to be dipped into at leisure rather than read in one go.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002

ISBN: 0-374-13029-9

Page Count: 176

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2002

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.