by Graham Michael Barton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 18, 2013
A cynical, often crude anti-travelogue of the Philippines.
British writer Barton, in his debut, pens an unflattering behind-the-scenes look at the Philippines and its people.
The expatriate author hurls hundreds of heat-seeking missiles at every aspect of life in the Philippine islands, taking on everything from cockfighting to politics, typhoons to technology, religion to personal hygiene and beyond. Nothing is sacred in Barton’s cynical, wide-ranging look at the habits of the Pinoy (male) and Pinay (female) residents of the Philippines. Jokes abound about “small brown people” who are noisy, filthy, happy, lazy, corrupt technophiles. The book delivers a torrent of condescending, usually unfunny criticisms of the Philippine people, with whom the author lives and works as a hotelier. In one mildly entertaining passage, Barton discusses the island’s love affair with karaoke: “[E]very establishment has the obligatory videoke machine. Put in five pesos to ruin any song you like. There is a collective misnomer that Filipinos can sing. They can’t.” Often, however, the writing is heavy-handed and crass: “Mobile phones are the devil’s spawn…glued to every youngster everywhere in the world. The Filipinos are no exception….I’m surprised there is no nipple application to clamp onto!” In a section on the environment, the author claims that Filipinos are wholly insensitive to their islands’ natural beauty: “Basically, they don’t give a shit. Well this is not strictly true, as there is shit everywhere….The local population just squat and shit, and the tide does the rest.” With writing this bare-knuckled, readers may squirm uncomfortably and wonder why the author lives in the Philippines if he has such a dim view of his island neighbors.
A cynical, often crude anti-travelogue of the Philippines.Pub Date: Dec. 18, 2013
ISBN: 978-1491886199
Page Count: 160
Publisher: AuthorHouseUK
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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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