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THE MAN IN THE FLYING LAWN CHAIR

Name: THE MAN IN THE FLYING LAWN CHAIR
Author: George Plimpton
ISBN: 1-4000-6342-6

AND OTHER EXCURSIONS AND ADVENTURES

by George Plimpton & edited by Sarah Dudley Plimpton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 14, 2004

Hearing Plimpton’s unique voice again reminds how grievous has been its loss.

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A posthumous collection of diverse pieces by the writer who pioneered participatory journalism and founded the Paris Review.

Edited and arranged by his widow, they reveal all the strengths and weaknesses—i.e., the humanity—of Plimpton (Home Run, 2001, etc.) as a writer and a man. In addition to quarterbacking for the Detroit Lions and pitching to Willie Mays, he helped make self-deprecation an art form, and this aspect of his style is much in evidence, no more so than in an account written in 2002 for his prep-school alumni magazine of his dismissal from the school many years earlier. We also read two separate reports of his marginally successful appearance playing the piano at the Apollo Theater for its legendary Amateur Night. The final piece, a brief and wistful “wish list” from 2002, reveals experiences he yearns for: bowling a perfect game, being acknowledged from the stage by Britney Spears, having a memorable moniker like “Joltin’ Joe.” The title essay, one of the best here, ruminates ten years after the bizarre 1982 case of Larry Walters, who hooked 42 weather balloons to his Sears lawn chair and ascended to 16,500 feet—commercial pilots saw him—before drifting back safely to earth. Another strong entry reveals how a small lie Plimpton told about being bitten by a cobra (it was actually an attack of bursitis) escalated into a story that soon soared out of control. The author’s ever-present Mr. Hyde (his unresolved adolescence) emerges occasionally too, with particular force in a piece about being interviewed for an editorial position at Playboy; his randy drooling around the Playboy Mansion is pathetic rather than amusing. And yet . . . the man could write. His piece about the death of Jacqueline Onassis and her little-known fascination with pirates is touching and only subtly self-referential.

Hearing Plimpton’s unique voice again reminds how grievous has been its loss.

Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2004

ISBN: 1-4000-6342-6

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2004

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
LATIN AMERICAN WRITERS AT WORK
edited by George Plimpton

- BOOK REVIEW
HOME RUN
edited by George Plimpton

- BOOK REVIEW
PET PEEVES
edited by George Plimpton

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NUTCRACKER

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

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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

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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

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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.