Highly slanted but involving bio of Jim Morrison. If Morrison were around today, he would probably chuckle at the gargantuan size he's been blown up to. Here, Hopkins (Yoko Ono, 1987, etc.) contributes his own puffery: ``Jim Morrison was a kind of cultural superman, larger than life, moving little girls (and many men) to sexual delight and intellectuals to profundity with equal ease and dispatch.'' Hopkins, who coauthored (with Danny Sugerman) a bestseller about the Doors (No One Gets Out Alive, 1980), tells us that his new book contains fresh information, plus ``stuff I've learned since the first book,'' plus a ``select collection...of interviews.'' Unfortunately, these were all conducted near the end of Morrison's life, when his alcoholism was full-blown (the Doors had to hire a baby-sitter to take care of him), his music career was on a downward arc, and his acting ambitions had been thwarted because he was considered too unreliable. Hopkins gives us the standard Morrison biography: Navy brat; good at English; high I.Q.; early proclivity to show off; and serendipitous meeting with Ray Manzarek, who suggested they form a band even though Jim had no experience. Full coverage is given to Morrison's death as well. Was it a heart attack? Heroin? Murder? The riddle remains. Meanwhile, Hopkins greases his narrative's forward movement with dollops of scuz: Morrison's penile salute at a Miami concert; the FBI arrest of Morrison as the singer left an airplane on which he had been harassing stewardesses (Hopkins on the subsequent trial: ``on the cockamamie testimony of these two airheads, Jim was convicted....''). For the cover price, you could get a couple CDs of the real thing—but buy the book if you're a true believer. (Two eight- page photo inserts—not seen.)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-684-19524-0
Page Count: 225
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1992
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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