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THE LIP

Name: THE LIP
Author: Gerald Eskenazi
ISBN: 0-688-11895-X

A BIOGRAPHY OF LEO DUROCHER

by Gerald Eskenazi ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 19, 1993

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A largely successful attempt to set the record straight on one of baseball's stormier superstars and, perhaps, to gain him a posthumous niche in the Hall of Fame. As veteran New York Times sportswriter Eskenazi (Bill Veeck, 1987, etc.) makes clear, Durocher (a slick-fielding, light-hitting shortstop from West Springfield, Massachusetts) made the most of his limited talents. All told, he spent over 40 years in the major leagues, playing for or managing such notable clubs as the 1928 New York Yankees (with Gehrig, Ruth, etc.), the 1934 St. Louis Cardinals (of Gas House Gang fame), the 1951 New York Giants (pennant winners, thanks to Bobby Thomson's dramatic last-of-the- ninth homer), and the 1969 Chicago Cubs (whose stretch-run collapse let the New York Mets waltz to a world championship). A firm believer in his own notorious credo that ``nice guys finish last,'' Durocher (who died in 1991 at age 86) would do whatever it took to come out ahead off the diamond as well as on. A regular on the cafe-society/show-biz circuit (where he rubbed elbows with the likes of Frank Sinatra and George Raft), his high-wide-and-handsome lifestyle earned him a one-year suspension from baseball in 1947. While the proximate charges were vague in the extreme, Eskenazi leaves little doubt that the brash baseball man deserved chastening. And Durocher is also overdue for a plaque at Cooperstown, in the author's persuasive view. Pointing out that only five of the ten managers voted into the baseball pantheon compiled better career records than Durocher's, Eskenazi argues that it's time for old enemies to bury the hatchet and make room for the Lip. An anecdotal, warts-and-all portrait of a rugged individualist who did it his way, which should appeal to fans of any age. (Sixteen pages of b&w photographs—not seen.)

Pub Date: March 19, 1993

ISBN: 0-688-11895-X

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1993

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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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.