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ROWAN'S PROGRESS

Name: ROWAN'S PROGRESS
Author: James McConkey
ISBN: 0-679-40882-7

by James McConkey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1992

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Leisurely ponderings upon the history of the small Kentucky town where McConkey (Literature/Cornell; Kayo, 1987; To a Distant Island, 1984, etc.) once taught. McConkey speaks here of Rowan County, Kentucky, site of the Rowan County War—a feud between John Martin and Craig Tolliver, a ``ruthless killer and bully'' whose brother was shot by Martin in a saloon. This feud became so violent—even for Kentucky—with two dozen killed and many more injured, that in 1888 the state legislature proposed to abolish the county unless the fighting stopped. Unfortunately, McConkey's account of the feud is so convoluted, with so many shifting alliances and personalities, that it will befuddle all but the most intrepid. Transcriptions of local folk songs and snippets from newspapers and military reports only add to the confusion. The author does, however, limn tolerable biographies of Frank and Phoebe Button, who founded Morehead State College, where McConkey taught as a young man. And as McConkey progresses to the present in this informal chronicle, his people begin to breathe, particularly Claire Louise Caudill, a physician descended from Tolliver and still practicing at the age of 75—with the aid of her nurse of 30 years, Susan Halblieb. Caudill, dedicated to obstetrics, had her mettle tested as soon as she hung out her shingle in 1948. Immediately after a record snowfall, she was summoned to deliver a baby at a home deep in the hills; she and Halblieb drove as far as their car would permit, and then ``were met by a man driving two horses hitched to a wooden sled....They arrived at the one-room shack a little past midnight. The only heat came from a tiny drum stove.'' A bit like viewing pictures of someone else's relatives- -provoking mild interest or a suppressed yawn.

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-679-40882-7

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Pantheon

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1991

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.