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THE FIRST SEVENTEEN

GROWING UP IN PENNSYLVANIA, 1924-1941

In this memoir, Burgoon (It All Counts on Twenty, 2014) recalls living in many different homes during his early years.
The author tracks his family’s struggle to achieve the American Dream, starting with his ancestors’ immigration to the United States from France in the 18th century, and ending at the start of World War II. Burgoon grew up during the Great Depression, which made success a hard aim to achieve. As his family quietly struggled, he was passed between relatives, or left to fend for himself. Much of the book recounts the fiercely independent boy’s adventures poking around the melting-pot districts of western Pennsylvania where he grew up. Instead of focusing on one particular theme—the Depression, for example, or the lessons that shaped him—Burgoon instead takes readers on a journey through his childhood as he chronologically experienced it. Unexpected anecdotes, such as a story of a premature baby successfully incubated in an oven, or of poverty-stricken students passing out from hunger in the middle of a lesson, keep things lively. However, the book lags between such dramatic moments; for every shocking sentence about an uncle’s prison experiences, for example, there’s a longer one about finding a golf ball. Overall, the things that excite the narrator most are money and girls, and everything else is given lesser treatment. However, he tells his story with an adult voice that’s kind and conversational, but still holds the innocence of youth. Politics have no place in the narrative, and although his family is often destitute, the author, as narrator, often seems childishly unconcerned. This is a strength of the book, as it’s able to capture the feeling of earning a few cents, for example, with an excitement that many adults would struggle to recreate. But just as often, the memoir glosses over important moments with little analysis; for example, the fact that the author’s father was an abusive, “nasty drunk” is quickly ignored.
A sometimes frustrating memoir, but one endowed with personality.

Pub Date: March 17, 2014

ISBN: 978-1483405933

Page Count: 260

Publisher: Lulu

Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2014

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NUTCRACKER

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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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

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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