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A PROUD AMERICAN

Name: A PROUD AMERICAN
Author: Joe Foss
ISBN: 0-671-75735-0

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOE FOSS

by Joe Foss with Donna Wild Foss ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 1992

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An authentic American hero's ``I-did-it-my-way'' memoir that, though less than reflective and more than self-satisfied, may hold considerable interest for a wide readership. The 77-year-old Foss grew up on a South Dakota farm where he learned about hard physical labor and responsibility. Interested from an early age in aviation, the author worked his way through college and joined the Marine Corps, where he earned his wings. Posted to Guadalcanal as a fighter pilot, Foss shot down 26 Japanese planes, breaking the record set by Eddie Rickenbacker in WW I and winning the Congressional Medal of Honor. After V-J Day, Foss served two terms as Republican governor of his home state, and a stint as commissioner of the American Football League. Pro football proved a springboard to prime-time TV, where he worked as host of The American Sportsman and The Outdoorsman; these popular shows enabled Foss to indulge his lifelong passion for hunting and fishing in glamorous venues throughout the world. Later on, he became KLM's man in Washington and then president of the National Rifle Association. In the course of his varied career, the just- plain-folks author rubbed elbows with a host of notables (Lindbergh, Nixon, FDR, et al.) upon whom he passes typically easy judgments here. And, while less than forthcoming about his private life, Foss does touch upon an unsuccessful first marriage and the happier second match that influenced him to become a born-again Christian. He devotes more than half of his text, though, to his memories of young manhood and to vivid firsthand accounts of aerial combat in WW II's Pacific theater. Straight-from-the-heartland reminiscences of a high-flier whose eventful life seems to have been remarkably free of complexity and doubt.

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-671-75735-0

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Pocket

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1992

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.