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BUFFALO NICKEL

Name: BUFFALO NICKEL
Author: Floyd Salas
ISBN: 1-55885-049-X

by Floyd Salas ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 1992

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Piercing and eloquent coming-of-age story from novelist- boxer Salas. Salas had two big brothers he adored. When he was 11, his mother died, leaving him primarily in the care of his brother Al, his father (who was often away in a bar), and his brother Eddy, who was at college. Al was a Golden Gloves champion and taught Salas how to box, and they became even closer when Eddy committed suicide. Al, who had shown a disinclination for work ever since he faked insanity for an Army discharge, began attempting to involve Salas in petty crime. Salas, torn between his idolized brother and his desire to do right, trained hard in the ring (here penning some the best boxing scenes since Leonard Gardner's Fat City, 1969) and studied hard. As he grew, his role and Al's slowly reversed: Al became deeply involved in buncos, theft, and heroin, and Salas attempted to steer him to a healthy way of life. Salas's photographic re-creation of the 1950's seedy Oakland bars, lowlifes, and vice squads from which he tried to rescue Al could make a book in itself. Eventually, Salas won a boxing scholarship to college, worked at night to support his family, and published a novel to great acclaim (Tatoo the Wicked Cross, 1967). Meanwhile, brother Al grew older and was unchanged, shooting junk, doing penitentiary stints, and, in order to collect welfare cash, having nine children—all of whom became addicts and alcoholics, four of them committing suicide. Salas took several of Al's children under his own wing but in vain. The greatest part—and the heart—of Salas's story are his childhood memories, which are comparable to Neal Cassady's The First Third (1971) but rendered with a far more deft sensitivity and poignancy. Beautifully written, gritty, and deeply human; maybe Salas will return to regular publishing with the debut of this outstanding memoir.

Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1992

ISBN: 1-55885-049-X

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Arte Público

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1992

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.