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BLUES CITY

Name: BLUES CITY
Author: Ishmael Reed
ISBN: 1-4000-4540-1

A WALK IN OAKLAND

by Ishmael Reed ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 2, 2003

Oakland awaits a better tribute.

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Lackluster potpourri of urban history, walking tour, and cultural events from novelist and polemicist Reed (Another Day at the Front, 2003, etc.).

The city in question is Oakland, California, the author’s adopted hometown. In 1967, Reed moved from New York to L.A., gradually making his way to the Bay Area. A faculty member at Berkeley and a long-time Oakland resident, he weaves the city’s contemporary politics (he isn’t fond of current mayor Jerry Brown) with the story of its troubled founding just over 150 years ago. (The Peralta family lands, which included much of present-day Oakland, Berkeley, and surrounding areas, were taken over by US squatters whose sovereignty superseded Mexican land claims.) This works less well when the author turns to cultural events and walking tours. Describing a powwow at Oakland Technical High School, he writes, “As far as I could tell, the eagle dance involved much jerking of the head and twirling about.” On walking tours, Reed tends to simply transcribe the tour leaders’ remarks, a decision that works when the lecturer is eloquent, but leads to repetition otherwise. The Black Panther Legacy Tour would have benefited from a brief summary of the movement’s influence on and intriguing history with the city. Instead, we get a rambling (if heartfelt) monologue by founding member David Hilliard. All walks here lead back to Jerry Brown. Of the Black Cowboy parade, Reed writes, “The most polished marchers were those from the Oakland Military Academy, a pet project of the Mayor.” At a blues festival at Jack London Square, “I was standing near a fence . . . when Jerry Brown showed up. Nobody noticed him.” The news isn’t all bad, however. The author visits the Paramount, an art deco movie palace; Lake Merritt, the largest saltwater lake in the US; and the Camron-Stanford house, one of the last remaining mansions to grace Lake Merritt’s shores.

Oakland awaits a better tribute.

Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2003

ISBN: 1-4000-4540-1

Page Count: 160

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2003

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
MIXING IT UP
by Ishmael Reed

- BOOK REVIEW
ANOTHER DAY AT THE FRONT
by Ishmael Reed

- BOOK REVIEW
MULTI-AMERICA
edited by Ishmael Reed

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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.