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THE HOUSE WITH SIXTEEN HANDMADE DOORS

A TALE OF ARCHITECTURAL CHOICE AND CRAFTSMANSHIP

Petroski, too, has an unerring eye for detail, which makes this admirably crafted book a delight to read.

Revealing the secrets of a quirky house.

Petroski (Engineering and History/Duke Univ.; To Forgive Design: Understanding Failure, 2012, etc.) and his wife, Catherine, bought a house in Arrowsic, Maine, for their summer retreat. Due to its unique design and craftsmanship, Petroski, whose curiosity (about toothpicks, pencils, bridges, assorted useful objects and feats of engineering) knows no bounds, set out to investigate the house’s history. The result is a charming book that will delight fans of PBS’s This Old House and, for that matter, anyone who has ever owned, remodeled or admired a house. This one was the handiwork of Bob Phinney, built about 60 years ago when, in his late 30s, he moved with his family from New Jersey. He was a “folk architect,” Petroski writes, who designed “a machine for living in” and “a structure worthy of an engineer….” A compact 1,200 square feet, the house consisted of three small bedrooms: one for his three sons, a master bedroom for him and his wife, and a tiny room for his daughter. Half the house was a living room and kitchen, divided by a massive stone fireplace. What caught Petroski’s attention was Phinney’s meticulous workmanship: nailheads, for example, aligned precisely and were flush with the surface of the wood; pine used for wall boards was chosen for its elegant and distinctive delineation, with no “incongruous juxtapositions of incompatible grain patterns and edge knots.” With the help of historical archives, friendly neighbors and photographs, Petroski creates a biography of the house, a natural history of coastal Maine and a portrait of Phinney himself: “Like Frank Lloyd Wright, he may not have been tall,” Petroski infers from the house’s short doorways, “but he had high aspirations for his art….His unerring care is manifest in every detail.”

Petroski, too, has an unerring eye for detail, which makes this admirably crafted book a delight to read.

Pub Date: May 5, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-393-24204-1

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: March 28, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2014

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DYLAN GOES ELECTRIC!

NEWPORT, SEEGER, DYLAN, AND THE NIGHT THAT SPLIT THE SIXTIES

An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...

Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.

The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.

An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.

Pub Date: July 25, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015

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NUTCRACKER

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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