Journalist Queenan (Time, Spy, GQ, etc.) brings a fine, sardonic sarcasm to the media's feeding frenzy over the hapless Hoosier who's so near the Oval Office. Queenan finds Dan Quayle a worthy touchstone from which to study the Vice-Presidency, the office of the Chief Executive, and the state of the nation. The author's text is funnier than it has any right to be as it expresses a cheerful and evenhanded scorn for all. Queenan explains why George Bush had to anoint young Senator Dan, and why tort reform, of all things, was picked as Quayle's fighting cause. He is able to compare Quayle to such late bloomers as Churchill, Bismarck, and Henry V. On the other hand, Queenan notes equally strong resemblances to such incompetents as Louis the Pious, Ethelred the Unready, and Louis XVI. Acknowledging ``the seemingly inescapable conclusion that the Quayle pound note may be short a few shillings,'' the VP is found to be not a bad person (that role goes to Marilyn), but just plain dumb. Still, Queenan points out, that's not so unusual. He ticks off the ``poltroons, varlets, dimwits and, yes, the occasional moron'' who have served as VP, and those who have occupied the White House itself. And that raises the serious possibility of there being a President Quayle: ``The next time Dan Quayle loses an election,'' Queenan points out, ``will be the first time he loses an election.'' But, the author believes, even with Quayle at the helm, the ship of state will stay afloat: ``If twenty-four lawyer presidents and thirty-two lawyer vice-presidents couldn't destroy it during its first two centuries of existence, nothing can.'' A clever piece of reportage that, as a sane and funny snapshot of America and its wacky politics, should, by all rights, survive long after November.
Pub Date: Oct. 8, 1992
ISBN: 1-56282-939-4
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 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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