A cranky test, celebratory of the writer's art, to which some attention may be paid.
The author of more than two dozen works of fiction (Entered From the Sun, 1990, etc.), biography (James Jones, 1984), criticism, poetry, and drama now turns his considerable powers to studied introspection.
Garrett (English/Univ. of Virginia) nearly, but not quite, comes up with an autobiography—an art form he describes as, at its best, "a cry for mercy concealed as a nonnegotiable demand for justice.'' That rings particularly true when the story has, as his does, a southern exposure, with its very diction and sensibility embedded in the War (the one between the states, of course). To be sure, there are narratives of other wars—in Europe, for example, or in the boxing ring. On occasion, the text, like a Broadway musical, bursts out of its mannered prose into creditable poetry and then lapses back into Garrett's wandering style— "digression,'' he confesses, "being the essence of my style.'' Another badge of his method is his penchant for eschewing the ancient and elementary rule of usage that requires a noun and a verb to appear together in the same sentence. Garrett does have his prejudices when it comes to his craft. There are kind words for fellow denizens of Dixie (Shelby Foote and James Dickey) and bit of buckshot for the likes of John Irving, John Updike, and Robert Coover. One story seems to be in homage to Hemingway. As for himself, Garrett, ever on the high road, discovers "a strong and deep feeling that virtuous acts that lead to any kind of profit or reward or...any forms of conventional honor and respect are not so much beneath contempt as unworthy of serious attention.''
A cranky test, celebratory of the writer's art, to which some attention may be paid.Pub Date: June 22, 1992
ISBN: 0-15-191313-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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