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MY MERCEDES IS NOT FOR SALE

Name: MY MERCEDES IS NOT FOR SALE
Author: Jeroen van Bergeijk
ISBN: 978-0-7679-2869-4

FROM AMSTERDAM TO OUAGADOUGOU...AN AUTO-MISADVENTURE ACROSS THE SAHARA

by Jeroen van Bergeijk & translated by John Antonides ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 15, 2008

Hard traveling, easier reading.

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Dutch journalist van Bergeijk writes of his road trip around the Sahara and into the heart of West Africa.

His mission was to drive a 17-year-old Mercedes Benz 190 Diesel with 136,400 miles on the odometer to Burkina Faso, the landlocked country old timers once called Upper Volta. Many African entrepreneurs are adept at rebuilding automobiles that would be left for dead elsewhere. A lively market exists for the Mercedes, the auto once prayed for by Janis Joplin. Van Bergeijk planned to leave his car, taking a bit of profit, for the benefit of some deserving Burkinabe cab driver. Before the trip, however, there was an educational visit to Bremen and the Benz factory and some tutelage in the art of desert motoring. (Pantyhose can serve as a filter, and don’t forget the sand ladders.) Then, through searing sandstorms and shimmering heat went the intrepid, dusty desert traveler. From Cape Boujdour and Nouadhibou to Nouakchott, following the lead of French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint Exupéry and innocent comic-book avatar Tintin, the author trekked through Mauritania and Senegal to the Ivory Coast and Ghana. He encountered hustling officials, fraudulent guides, happy brigands, touring druggies and some “groovy” folk. Africa seemed a land of much sand and many bribes, both quite natural and lingering, along with cell phones, an occasional Internet café and endemic poverty. The romance of the desert may have faded since the advent of the motor car, but the inherent native penchant for patience and the avoidance of pressure remains. Despite the cultural chasm, bad brakes and broken shocks, the car, which may actually have clocked nearly 300,000 miles, was sold to a dealer.

Hard traveling, easier reading.

Pub Date: July 15, 2008

ISBN: 978-0-7679-2869-4

Page Count: 240

Publisher: Broadway

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2008

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.