From the New Yorker, Bermudian Holiday and Cosmopolitan come these murmurations by an expert anatomist of confusion, whose knowledge of its mysterious physiology is not to be confused with anyone else's. This expounds his standing (and jumping) rules for a happy marriage, the unexpected dividends of a good clean, sweeping generalization, the chances of survival on a pleasure cruise, the joy of filing and forgetting when correspondence confounds and how man can outwit woman (no ladies, and gentlemen's rules here). There's a sketch or two, more than one dilemma (telephones in closets to be coped with in French and buying your wife a flag and flagpole for Christmas, among them), Aunt Wilma's quandary over odd change, some parodies, the heinous crimes of a practical joker, happy endings for old ballads, etc., etc. Although there is a piece on humor being a headache, it's for certain the only ailment here will be a laugh-ache at the wry disarray of human perplexities. Have a nice time.
Pub Date: Oct. 26, 1953
ISBN: 0743233409
Page Count: 314
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1953
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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