Serviceable biography of a noted Broadway and film lyricist/librettist. Born the son of a department store mogul, Lerner had the luxury to pursue a life in the theater. Luck brought him into contact with Viennese-born composer Frederick Loewe at New York's legendary theatrical hangout, the Lambs Club, in the mid-'40s. Loewe had had some minor hits, but success had eluded him; he was looking for a new partner to pump some life into his work. The two worked together on a series of shows, hitting pay dirt with the 1947 fantasy Brigadoon. Lerner was a compulsive worker, while Loewe was happy to enjoy his newfound success; over the next decade and a half, the two would collaborate on two more successful shows, My Fair Lady and Camelot, while Lerner filled the gaps by working (less successfully) with other composers, including Kurt Weill and Burton Lane, as well as keeping himself occupied writing scripts in Hollywood. After Camelot, Loewe happily went into semi-retirement; confounded, Lerner worked on a number of ill-begotten projects, beginning with the overblown On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. The failures kept coming through the '70s and '80s, while Lerner's personal life followed its rocky path, marked by a series of quickly consummated and ultimately unsuccessful marriages. Lerner succumbed to cancer in 1986. Jablonski (Gershwin, 1987, etc.) is an able writer and knows how to hold a reader's interest. Realizing that Lerner's life story is less uplifting than the story of his hits, he wisely focuses on the shows, glossing over the more troublesome aspects of the biography. Jablonski offers salient critiques of the major Lerner productions, including close readings of the songs, the libretti, and a complete run-down of the production histories. However, he relies on the standard literature in retelling Lerner's life, barely moving beyond a handful of well-known sources for further insights. (32 b&w photos, not seen)
Pub Date: Feb. 9, 1996
ISBN: 0-8050-4076-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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