by George Dennison ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1994
Dennison (Luisa Domic, 1985, etc.) died in 1987, and this genial hodgepodge draws from his journals and his scattered notes on and interviews with people in Temple, Me., the rural community to which he migrated from New York City. Apparently, Dennison intended to organize these into some sort of communal portrait, and the raw material for a powerful book certainly exists. His writing and observations are sharp, and it is interesting to see the source for the rural New England settings in his novel Luisa Domic and the novella ``Shawno'' (to be reissued in one volume by Steerforth in June), but the lack of narrative drive drags the book down, particularly the sections culled from Dennison's journals. These contain mostly observations of nature, occasionally mixed with stories about his children and wife and, in a few places, his frustration with rural life. These passages, while lyrical, are much less involving than the interviews. These are the authentic voices of New England, men who sound detached even when discussing chain-saw accidents: ``He was workin' by himself one Saturday up the side of Spruce Mountain, 'bout four miles from the tarred road, and he slipped, or God knows what, 'n he cut his whole foot and ankle right off, right clean through the bone, the whole goddam way.'' They are also brutally honest: Of a local resident who had hung himself recently, one man burns, ``If I'd known he was goin' to do it I'd've helped him.... The man was a crook. He cheated me and he cheated everybody.'' To his credit, Dennison himself never paints too rosy a picture of rural life either—the slaughtering of a sheep is described explicitly. A potluck with some good bits, but it is clear that the author would have made something greater than simply the sum of its parts.
Pub Date: June 15, 1994
ISBN: 1-883642-22-1
Page Count: 195
Publisher: Steerforth
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1994
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
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
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
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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