bookshelf

WHAT WE CARRY

Name: WHAT WE CARRY
Author: Gail Larkin
ISBN: 978-1-946989-17-8

A NEW YORK PARAMEDIC'S STORY

by Gail Larkin ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 13, 2018

An emotional and touching but disjointed account of a paramedic’s hard-earned and valuable life lessons.

bookshelf

A paramedic’s memorable experiences working the streets of New York City provide the backdrop for a collection of tales.

Debut author Larkin has seen it all in over four decades of prehospital emergency medicine, handling calls that ranged from miscarriages to car wrecks. But her most compelling memories often focus on seemingly simple human interactions. The author reminisces about drinking tea with an elderly woman who just felt lonely. Larkin recounts the time she inexplicably packed an extra pair of socks for work one day, only to pass them on to a homeless man who requested that very item. She may not know what happens to her patients after she leaves them at the hospital, but their stories stick with her. The message of her memoir is clear: It’s the small, everyday occurrences that impact people’s lives the most. Tales of tragedy are common, but Larkin balances the darkness with light by including the stories of patients she helped to save and the deep appreciation of their families. In an especially moving tale, the author responded to a car crash involving a young boy who was close in age to her own brothers. She managed to stay focused on the job and then returned home to a heart-wrenchingly normal evening with her siblings. The short but impactful anecdote deftly shows the challenges of separating work life and home life as an emergency responder. Larkin has a wealth of captivating stories to share and a clear passion for her work. But while her tales are interspersed throughout a relatively chronological account of her life, the author fails to tie them together in a larger narrative sense. She drops them into the memoir and then moves on. Readers will understand that these stories are the threads that form the tapestry of her life, but it’s hard to gain a clear sense of Larkin herself, as the completed textile. How she managed to maintain such a positive attitude and rosy outlook on life, despite all the traumas surrounding her, would be a thread worth pursuing.

An emotional and touching but disjointed account of a paramedic’s hard-earned and valuable life lessons.

Pub Date: July 13, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-946989-17-8

Page Count: 156

Publisher: Full Court Press

Review Posted Online: Aug. 7, 2018

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

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

bookshelf

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

bookshelf

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.