Next book

BLACKBIRD

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PAUL MCCARTNEY

Prince Paul conquers the world as a Beatle, then daringly starts his own group (Wings) and lives forever after in tight- fisted happiness with his Lady Linda—in this vapid gusher from Giuliano (Dark Horse: The Secret Life of George Harrison, 1990). Giuliano begins with a 90-page rehearsal of the Fab Four's career—nothing new here, it's all from familiar and secondary sources. He then turns to the marriage of Linda Eastman and McCartney. Potentially of interest, this union of a son of a cotton factor and a daughter of a Cleveland heiress—but after a run through old fan magazines and previously published interviews, enlivened only by Giuliano's fillips (``Linda McCartney...is today a mature, creative, socially concerned woman with no illusions about either her complicated place in pop history or her role as a responsible, caring citizen of Spaceship Earth''), we know no more than we began with. Giuliano's chief informant, Denny Laine—who played guitar in Wings for several years—does provide some interesting insights. Money: ``McCartney was always making excuses for not paying us properly by saying his money was all tied up in the Beatles' company, Apple...I was kept in the dark all the time about money, just given a check now and again.'' Recording: ``He and Linda did smoke a fantastic amount of stuff by anybody's standards...so much of it makes you very indecisive and takes away your self-confidence. That's why Paul's albums take him ages and ages to make. He just cannot be decisive about anything.'' Laine left the band when McCartney was arrested for drug-possession in Tokyo. In subsequent years, McCartney forbade the band to carry any drugs across the border. This prohibition, says Giuliano, did not apply to McCartney himself; he used the hood on his daughter's coat and his son's diaper as stash bags. For True Believers only. (Thirty-two pages of b&w photographs—not seen.)

Pub Date: Nov. 15, 1991

ISBN: 0-522-93374-3

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1991

Categories:
Next book

THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE

50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

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

Categories:
Next book

NUTCRACKER

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:
Close Quickview