bookshelf

FIRST PERSON SINGULAR

Name: FIRST PERSON SINGULAR
Author: Joyce Carol Oates
ISBN: 0865380457

WRITERS ON THEIR CRAFT

edited by Joyce Carol Oates ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1983

bookshelf

Especially in contrast to Stephen Berg's comparable anthology, In Praise of What Persists (p. 216), this is an unimpressive gathering of essays and interviews—a few of which don't even provide what's promised in the title and subtitle. A memoir of John Berryman (by William Heyen) seems out of place here; so does an academic essay on love poetry—not at all "first person"—by Daniel Halpern. And the best pieces have all appeared before in book form: a John Updike credo from Picked-Up Pieces, Cynthia Ozick's much-encountered grappling with Henry James, Eudora Welty's fine "Words into Fiction" from The Eye of the Story. The more engaging items among the remainder are brisk, direct autobiographical sketches by Anne Tyler, Maxine Kumin, Francine du Plessix Gray, Alice Adams—and Mary Gordon. ("Above all I did not wish to be trivial; I did not wish to be embarrassing. But i did not want to write like Conrad, and I did not want to write like Henry James") Editor Oates offers her musings on "the ontological status of the writer who is also a woman?" Among the poets, Dave Smith is academic but at least clear, while John Hollander manages to be academic, mystical, and sentimental at the same time. And the speakers in the spotty, occasionally stimulating interviews include Saul Bellow, John Hawkes, E. L. Doctorow, Bernard Malamud, and Margaret Atwood. Unusually strong on female representation; otherwise—disappointing.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1983

ISBN: 0865380457

Page Count: 280

Publisher: Ontario Review

Review Posted Online: Oct. 2, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1983

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
JOYCE CAROL OATES
by Joyce Carol Oates ; edited by Greg Johnson

- BOOK REVIEW
A DARKER SHADE OF NOIR
edited by Joyce Carol Oates

- BOOK REVIEW
ZERO-SUM
by Joyce Carol Oates

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

bookshelf

TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

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

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

bookshelf

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.