A book with a heartwarming, honorable, and inspirational message for anyone searching for a compassionate perspective.
An exhilarating debut memoir that chronicles a fallen entrepreneur’s eight-year world tour on a tandem bike.
Bianchini’s extraordinary chronicle begins with his often tumultuous childhood and showcases his enduring love of bicycle-riding. He sometimes felt overshadowed by his large extended Northern California family, which fractured when his parents divorced, but his outings on his bike provided the escape he craved. His need for exploration would resurface as an adult after a post-collegiate job slump, numerous failed business ventures, and a breakup that forced him into a period of self-reflection. He and his best buddy, Garryck, came up with an idea to pedal a customized titanium tandem bicycle across the globe, picking up strangers “to help create just a little more peace in our world.” Initially funded by generous sponsors, Bianchini’s Peace Pedalers mission officially embarked on its Stage 1 sequence, which brought the riders from Japan to Australia. Stages 2, 2b, and 3 went from South Africa to Morocco, Italy to Portugal, and Brazil to the United States, respectively, traversing 81 countries altogether. Bianchini and Garryck were able to cover an impressive amount of ground, but this fact pales in comparison to the stories the author shares in this epic travelogue and the kaleidoscopically diverse people they met along the way. A brief ride to a Japanese teahouse gives way to a Fijian Christmas, a sweet-talking session with militant Zimbabwean police officers, descriptions of picturesque Italian Alps scenery and Brazilian Carnival, and an unexpected prospect of fatherhood. Random thefts, flat tires, loneliness, and physical injuries failed to diminish the vigor of the resilient travelers as hundreds of international guest riders (“friendships”) eventually took a seat on their bicycle built for two. Generous pages of scenic photographs personalize the author’s amazing, life-changing journey. However, at more than 400 pages, Bianchini’s slickly produced memoir meanders in places and becomes bloated with exposition; it may have proved cathartic for the author, but it may exasperate readers anxious to cross the finish line.
A book with a heartwarming, honorable, and inspirational message for anyone searching for a compassionate perspective.Pub Date: April 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0996137201
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Ludela Press
Review Posted Online: May 8, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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