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WHY WE GARDEN

Name: WHY WE GARDEN
Author: Jim Nollman
ISBN: 0-8050-2719-X

CULTIVATING A SENSE OF PLACE

by Jim Nollman ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 26, 1994

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Nollman (Spiritual Ecology, not reviewed) offers provocative reflections on the need to create a sense of place—``a bit of paradise within an imperfect world.'' Nollman offers an eclectic month-by-month record of his gardening experiences. For this ex-hippie, who admits he came to gardening with many fixed ideas and prejudices that he has since abandoned or modified, a garden is a place where a genuine healing relationship between person and place can be formed. Asserting that that ``we, the increasingly rootless species, must learn to root...must learn to nurture the ground that sustains us,'' he demonstrates how this can be done. In essays that reflect the changing seasons in his own island garden in Puget Sound, Wash., Nollman discusses attitudes to nature that have led to widespread environmental damage; the need for a middle ground between ecology ideologues and ordinary farmers; and the indivisibility of all life forms. The progress of a sequoia tree he plants near a pond in his ``one-tree garden'' provides a common thread for both his practical comments and his philosophy. The broader topics are illustrated by examples from his garden: In ``March: The Soil Garden'' he gives a history of soil and shares his techniques for creating a nutrient- rich soil; in ``June: The Semi-Real Garden'' he ponders the effects of plant hybridization and his affection for a double peony that ``epitomizes all the excess of the semi-real flower world''; and in ``October: The Weed Garden'' he suggests alternatives to herbicides for resolving weeding problems while noting that weeds are ``simply those unintended plants able to thrive and heal broken ground.'' Like the best gardeners, Nollman knows that gardening is as much about living as it is about growing the perfect rose. A gardening book refreshingly rooted in reality that is also balm for the spirit.

Pub Date: May 26, 1994

ISBN: 0-8050-2719-X

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1994

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.