Charming, humorously observed boyhood anecdotes.
In his debut childhood memoir, Tammela recalls his various escapades while growing up in late-1930s and early 1940s Niagara Falls, Canada.
In a prologue, Tammela sets some context for his memoir, in which he refers to himself in the third person as “Jackie.” His Finnish parents arrived in Canada in 1923 with 1-year-old son Timo, who died of illness at age 9, the same year Tammela was born. While Tammela dedicates this book to Timo, his memoir largely eschews sadness, with him also noting, “I hope you enjoy finding out more about how great being a kid in Niagara was in the 1930s and early 1940s.” His memoir then unspools largely through single-chapter episodic events, which include how Jackie was inspired by the 1937 British coronation to dress up as a child king, parading in front of his parents and three siblings. In another episode, he was afraid of his school nurse yet endured and even enjoyed a hospital stay. Elsewhere, he played “war games” and had snowball fights with pals and a memorable day “swimming, playing at being bullies, and finally, a crazy ride on a runaway wagon.” The memoir concludes with Tammela and his family about to move to Toronto when he is 10. Debut author Tammela’s memoir is quite entertaining, told through a child’s eye with folksy wit reminiscent of Jean Shepherd’s narration in A Christmas Story. “Armie and Jackie had zero desire for any such thing, but they were trapped,” he says, for example, about the pressure to perform for adults to earn treats at Halloween. He effectively captures the intensity of childhood play, reinforced by several hand-drawn black-and-white maps of his old neighborhood. Tammela’s memoir is for the most part tame enough to be shared with children, with his mother’s chiding of how he referred to some black musicians potentially serving as a teachable moment. Still, one scene of rather inappropriate touching by an older girl is left a bit sketchy and is rather disturbing. Overall, however, this is a delightful memoir. Let’s hope Tammela is considering a sequel set in Toronto.
Charming, humorously observed boyhood anecdotes.Pub Date: March 25, 2014
ISBN: 978-1909121461
Page Count: 338
Publisher: Acorn Independent Press
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
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
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