An easy, entertaining read, perfect for plane rides and road trips.
A Belfast travel writer and his Scottish sidekick take a lighthearted ride up the 16,500-mile Pan-American Highway.
Hill (Way to Go: Two of the World’s Great Motorcycle Journeys, 2005, etc.) proves an amiable, witty guide as he jaunts north through desert, mountain and woodlands. That’s not to say he and traveling companion Clifford Paterson don’t encounter some bumps in the road. These include a fairly serious crash along a remote stretch of road near Cali, Colombia; endless red tape at a half-dozen Latin-American border crossings; and a ban on beer throughout Central America during Easter Week. Their journey begins in the remote village of Puerto Montt, Chile, aboard two donated vintage motorbikes: Hill’s is a British Triumph, Paterson’s an Italian Aprilia. En route to the Arctic Circle, both machines prove nearly as durable as their riders, despite close encounters with wandering Canadian moose and Ecuadorian protesters, a dearth of high-octane gasoline throughout South America and weather conditions ranging from subtropical to frigid. Hill and Paterson face each trial with equanimity and, when slowed, usually manage to make interesting friends among the locals. In Peru, they find a German immigrant who makes a comfortable living importing breast implants, which are stacked on the furniture of his spacious hacienda. In Mexico, they encounter an odd colony of exiled Mennonites. Once across the U.S. border, they relish endless oddball museums, including colorful memorials to vintage vacuum cleaners and an art gallery featuring landscapes made completely of lint. Hill’s breezy, humorous narrative contains just enough dollops of history and local culture to satisfy travel fans.
An easy, entertaining read, perfect for plane rides and road trips.Pub Date: Dec. 11, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-85640-804-5
Page Count: 310
Publisher: Dufour
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2007
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
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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