In his third book Ellis (Bareback!, 1993; Walking the Trail, 1991) sticks with his by now familiar conceit: trekking an arduous path across historical territory to find out the truth about history and himself. His latest hike is unusual, however, in that he chooses to march in the footsteps of the Union general William Tecumseh Shermana ``Yankee devil,'' as five-year-old Alabama-born Ellis was taught, and the general doesn't appear to have reformed much in the author's eyes. He calls him ``firebug'' and describes the Union soldiers as marauding animals and the freed slaves who joined them as a traveling minstrel show/bordello. Ellis's purpose is to discover the South, what it was and what it has become. But his journey across Georgia, from Decatur to Savannah, seems to be more an exercise in self-indulgence and personal vanity than a soul-searching of the South. The people he meets are standard hicks, southern belles, or stock colorful types, like the randy old Goat Man Ellis has admired his whole life for his wandering spirit. The insights Ellis gleans are also generic: Old people bemoan ``the difference between our generation and these new ones coming along''; teenagers are confused. They are also sex objectsthe girls anywaywhom the middle-aged Ellis ogles lecherously. No wonder his much-younger girlfriend, Debi, was worried about his fidelity. He talks about her a lot, too. A little about her voice and figure; mostly about her laudable habit of not wearing underwear, describing intimate moments with all the detailand literary flairof a dime-store romance. What is most disturbing, however, is that for all of Ellis's seeming lack of racial prejudice, he never addresses the question of slavery at all. As far as the reader can tell, Ellis sees nothing positive as having arisen from the war between the states. A long schlepp with a pompous and unenlightening guide.
Pub Date: Oct. 13, 1995
ISBN: 0-385-31182-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1995
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
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
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