This book’s heft may intimidate novices, but these pieces of advice will be useful for anyone who’s ever wanted to know more...
Laughren (The Beer Drinker’s Guide to Knowing and Enjoying Fine Wine, 2012) offers a guide to getting more out of your wine-drinking experience.
The author writes that the “one constant” of wine appreciation is “realizing the impossibility of ever mastering this vast subject.” He’s no stranger to convincing readers that oenology is for everyone, and with this new book, he casts a very wide net, packing a great deal of history, geography, personal experience, and advice on refining one’s palate into short chapters. Laughren’s 50 suggestions include creating a country chart in order to keep track of all the wines one has tried (or wants to try); visiting a winery in person; and drinking with people from other countries. Along the way, he addresses the smallest associated details (“Stemless glasses? Get rid of them”) and introduces subjects that even self-proclaimed aficionados might not know about, such as the special kvevri wines of Georgia, which are made using ancient techniques. Along with the advice, Laughren takes every opportunity to share his vast knowledge about a subject that he obviously loves to study. For instance, the simple tip “Take Notes” is indeed a sound idea for novices, but the author uses it as a springboard to go further afield, addressing the different flavors and smells that one should attempt to identify during wine-tasting. As a result, the chapters can become dense; indeed, the work as a whole might have been more interesting if it were organized thematically or as an encyclopedia. Still, Laughren’s mastery of the subject is impressive, and it shines through on every page. Those who take the time to follow his fascinating digressions are sure to find something new and delicious.
This book’s heft may intimidate novices, but these pieces of advice will be useful for anyone who’s ever wanted to know more about wine.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-9855336-3-2
Page Count: 300
Publisher: Crosstown Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
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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