by Joseph Rozeau ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2016
A disquieting, uneven read, but one that’s ultimately optimistic.
A dysfunctional childhood leads to bad relationships and personally destructive behavior in this debut memoir that chronicles the author’s search for self-respect, love, and stability.
It’s been a rocky road for Rozeau. During his childhood, he says, he and his siblings were little valued, emotionally and physically abused, and scorned by an unforgiving extended family. As a result, despite his professional success in the Canadian military police, he remained walled off from interpersonal relationships. Hurt and anger spill from almost every page of this recollection, reflecting emotions that have apparently been simmering for decades. The titular devils are the two women with whom the author had relationships in 2006 and 2013. The first is the mother of his young daughter; the second, he allowed himself to love. But both relationships, he says, became toxic. The first woman, he says, filed falsified charges of domestic abuse against him and attempted to keep him from his daughter; the lengthy legal battle that ensued nearly wiped him out financially, and the thought of losing his daughter drove him to consider suicide. The other, he says, was a skillful liar who consistently cheated on him, yet he says that he found it almost impossible to completely break ties with her, due to his need for validation and companionship. His daughter, however, remains the true light of his life, and he writes of her with total joy and devotion. For her, he says, he threw himself into intensive therapy and began the journey of self-discovery. This memoir is no small part of that process, and it’s a cathartic expulsion of grievances and self-recriminations. Born and raised in Montreal, Rozeau didn’t learn to speak English until 2005, when he was 26 years old, so it’s an impressive achievement that he’s written this volume in his adopted language. However, the text would likely have benefited from stronger editing to cut down on linguistic errors and content repetition. Although the small quirks in phraseology are fine, even additive, the erratic grammatical errors are confusing and disruptive to the flow of the overall narrative.
A disquieting, uneven read, but one that’s ultimately optimistic.Pub Date: March 15, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4602-6832-2
Page Count: 228
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: June 13, 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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