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CHOPIN

THE RELUCTANT ROMANTIC

A short biography of the Polish composer and piano virtuoso, seasoned with nontechnical musical discussion. Entering a not overcrowded field, at least in English, Siepmann (director of music at Bruern Abbey) has here designed a compact ``life and works'' of the genius of the polonaise, mazurka, and waltz. Siepmann argues persuasively that Chopin's (181049) continued popularity has had the perverse effect of obscuring his known personalitythoughtful, mordantly witty, and not as representative of his era as one might imaginebehind a Hollywood- lit gauze of ``Romanticism.'' Unfortunately, even uncritical readers will balk at some sloppy historical analysis (``In 1825 Russia was the last bastion of old-fashioned stability in Europe, though even she was not immune to change'') and much prose in need of rewriting (``Sand's sexual appetite demanded some form of release, and it was during this period that she found solace between the sheets . . .''). If you can stand this sort of thing and are not afraid to accept Siepmann's discussion of Chopin's music for what it isone man's opinion, not gospelthis is a useful volume. The author is best when he lets the characters speak for themselves, which he does often. Siepmann also offers some interesting if not fully explored arguments, including a refutation of Bart¢k's canard that Chopin did not really concern himself with genuine folk music. Best of all, as appendices, are a selective discography of legendary Chopin performers from Vladimir de Pachmann (born in 1848, the year before Chopin died at age 39, but who lived well into the electrical recording era) to the magisterial Maurizio Pollini and the young Evgeny Kissin, as well as a fascinating round-table ``symposium'' on Chopin created from the author's interviews with nine leading contemporary concert pianists. If these features lead the Chopin novice to further exploration, Siepmann's literary smudges will merit forgiveness. (illustrations, not seen)

Pub Date: Sept. 29, 1995

ISBN: 1-55553-249-7

Page Count: 288

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1995

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NIGHT

The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the...

Elie Wiesel spent his early years in a small Transylvanian town as one of four children. 

He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions. 

The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the sphere of suffering shared, and in this case extended to the death march itself, there is no spiritual or emotional legacy here to offset any reader reluctance.

Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2006

ISBN: 0374500010

Page Count: 120

Publisher: Hill & Wang

Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006

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THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS

FROM MEAN STREETS TO WALL STREET

Well-told and admonitory.

Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.

Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.

Well-told and admonitory.

Pub Date: June 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-06-074486-3

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006

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