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SEVEN SECONDS

Name: SEVEN SECONDS
Author: Holly Millea
ISBN: 978-1-61452-088-7

MEMORIES OF THE JFK ASSASSINATION, THE TRAGEDY THAT CHANGED AMERICA

by Holly Millea ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 25, 2013

There seems to be no reason for the order in which these interview snippets are presented and no rationale for who is...

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A short collection of memories of the Kennedy assassination by a random assortment of media and entertainment figures.

The 50th anniversary of the assassination has sparked plenty of published commemoration but perhaps none as strange or slight as this. If you want to know how that tragedy affected the Four Seasons’ Frankie Valli, Hustler publisher Larry Flynt or comedian David Steinberg, here’s your source. Journalist Millea saves one last question for everyone she profiles: “Do you remember where you were when you heard the news that JFK had been shot?” Maybe she had the idea for this collection of extended quotes all along, or maybe she was just curious (she explains that since she was 2 at the time, she had no personal recollection of that tragic day). Since her interviews likely hadn’t come anywhere near that subject until then, one assumes that Barbra Streisand, Dick Cavett and game-show host Alex Trebek were surprised by the question, but none of them seem ambushed by the out-of-the-blue query. Journalist Gay Talese swims against the tide of convention, claiming that when he was sent to gather man-on-the-street reactions from New Yorkers, they really weren’t feeling a whole lot in the immediate aftermath (until the media showed everyone what we were supposed to feel). Artist Chuck Close remembers conservative law students at Yale “drinking a toast to the death of JFK.” Flynt reflects with a rare tinge of remorse, “Isn’t it strange that, twelve years later, I would publish nude photos of his wife, Jacqueline? It seems not a very nice thing to do when you think about it, but it just all seemed like business to me.”

There seems to be no reason for the order in which these interview snippets are presented and no rationale for who is included, other than the fact that each was interviewed by the author.

Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-61452-088-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Byliner

Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013

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.