Lahr (Automatic Vaudeville, 1984, etc.), in British tonalities never learned from his father, offers an overwrought backstage bio of a comedian largely unappreciated this side of the Pond. Self-proclaimed mega-star Dame Edna Everage (My Gorgeous Life, 1991) is a confidante of royals and a hobnobber with international glitterati. Surely, there's nothing like this Dame, with her contempt for her fans and the ``paupers'' in the balcony. (She skewers her ``possums'' lovingly, she says). The ineffable dominatrix from Melbourne is, of course, a pantomime lady—that favorite of the otherwise explicable British, a comic in drag. The Çminence grise inhabiting Edna's pantyhose is one Barry Humphries, a randy comic from Down Under. Humphries, a complex, self-centered, and often hostile man (it's said lovingly, possums), is a music- hall artiste of multiple personalities, including Edna's opening act, Sir Les Patterson, also from Australia and a souse with a stupendous appendage. (In ``the area of phallic fun, Sir Les holds his own,'' Lahr notes with his British humor, but he's ``not everybody's cup of pee.'' Be warned.) Undeniably, Humphries has a quick and unique wit that can steer the Everage faux gentility through jokes about leprosy and her late husband's prostate. But Lahr's sappy adulation veers toward parody itself. The ``excesses of Humphries' temperament,'' he gushes, ``are forgotten in the face of the abundance of his talent,'' even as his subject repeatedly gives him the brushoff. Humphries ``strides past me,'' Lahr notes. ``After another few minutes it's clear that I will not be summoned.'' The feckless author is happy, though. He just wants ``to stop time and to chronicle a moment in the prime of a great clown's life.'' ``Barry Humphries is among us, and he is the goods,'' insists Lahr. It remains to be seen if these goods will sell in these former colonies. (Photographs—not seen.)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-374-13456-1
Page Count: 242
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1992
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
