by John Rollo ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 13, 2016
Rollo spins a truly nightmarish medical ordeal into a life-affirming exercise in resilience, optimism, and eternal gratitude.
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An inspired, epistolary debut memoir chronicling an amputee’s months of rehabilitation and recovery.
Canadian automotive industry veteran Rollo recounts a harrowing medical nightmare, which began in 2013 after he underwent a complicated eight-hour spinal surgery to alleviate pinched-nerve pain radiating down his legs. The 6-foot-5 author hoped the titanium rods that the surgeon inserted would stabilize his posture and eventually improve his impaired ability to walk. Unfortunately, Rollo suffered a postsurgical heart attack. After an attempt at a bypass procedure, he contracted pneumonia, and a major circulatory impairment to his lower extremities necessitated an amputation of both feet. He narrates his personal story while also including the loving, encouraging words of family members, and he illustrates his work with endearing portraits of his wife and “Chief Angel,” Cathy, and graphic medical photographs. Along the way, he unfurls a tapestry of hope, survival, and genuine emotions that run the gamut from exhaustive desperation to prideful glee. His account of his tribulations during a grueling recovery process is difficult to read at times, but he threads in bits of wisdom, humor, and graceful poetry, which add perspective and personality: “Camaraderie was a balm, a healing ointment that could spread across the wards,” he writes of his time in a rehabilitation facility. His sage discussions regarding medicinal pain management, phantom pain, and even the benefits of prunes offer useful information. He also questions the absence of mental health support for patients who undergo amputation procedures. Overall, this heart-tugging memoir is a story of bravery in the face of mounting depression and seemingly hopeless odds. It shines brightest when the author is most candid about his journey; his inclusion of the months of Facebook posts, however, have a somewhat impersonal, distancing effect. His sobering opinions on the highs and lows of life with prosthetic limbs, though, will surely encourage readers to cultivate a newfound respect for life.
Rollo spins a truly nightmarish medical ordeal into a life-affirming exercise in resilience, optimism, and eternal gratitude.Pub Date: May 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4602-8296-0
Page Count: 258
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
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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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
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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