A warm, crowd-pleasing volume of Christian-tinged essays on fatherhood.
A collection of Christian essays explores the ups and downs of parenthood.
Life is full of surprises, but even when things don’t go according to plan, you can still end up in a pretty good place. Just ask Jacobson (So I Go Now, 2006), whose experiences raising four children with his wife—and best friend—have brought all manner of the unexpected into his life. There’s the standard fodder for fathers flabbergasted by their kids’ ignorance of societal norms, as when the germophobic Jacobson witnessed his son Levi attempt to pick up a penny from the floor of a public restroom: “It’s no exaggeration to say that I died a thousand deaths as he reached for it, and then I saved him from certain peril at the last possible moment. As I pulled him out of that man-made hell, I was screaming on the inside while Levi was screaming on the outside.” There are also more serious tests, as when, after years of struggling with infertility, the author’s wife experienced a difficult birth with their twin sons. After some lighthearted introductory essays, Jacobson takes a thematic approach to his storytelling, devoting one section each to his children (his first son, destined to become a Marine; the rambunctious twins; and his daughter, the apple of his eye); another to his childhood friend Jimmy, whose death in the World Trade Center attacks still haunts the author; and a final segment to his belief in Jesus. Jacobson’s prose is breezy and jokey even when he discusses more emotional subjects: “It’s winter again and I’ve lost my energy. I’m not sure where it went. Maybe it checked out on me and caught the last train for the coast and it’s prancing around in some sun-drenched town, shopping maybe, or riding a bike.” It isn’t a terribly probing work, though the final section, which imagines Jesus in a number of contemporary scenarios, is a bit more subversive than it initially appears. Even so, many fathers will likely see themselves in Jacobson, and his cheery demeanor may help assure those just starting out that, whatever happens, things will probably be just fine.
A warm, crowd-pleasing volume of Christian-tinged essays on fatherhood.Pub Date: April 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-79430-904-3
Page Count: 193
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2019
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
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
