bookshelf

THE DEATHS OF SYBIL BOLTON

Name: THE DEATHS OF SYBIL BOLTON
Author: Jr. McAuliffe
ISBN: 0-8129-2150-X

AN AMERICAN HISTORY

by Jr. McAuliffe ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1994

bookshelf

McAuliffe, an editor for the Washington Post, offers an informative, often poignant story of a suppressed chapter of American history—a kind of Native American Roots. Sybil Bolton, the author's maternal grandmother, died many deaths—or so it seems. Did she die of complications from diabetes, as McAuliffe was first told? Did she succumb to kidney disease, as his mother later claimed? Did she commit suicide, as the death certificate attests? Or was she murdered while holding her infant daughter in her arms? McAuliffe, who was not told of his Indian heritage until he was 15, sets out to find the answer. The title of his book not only reflects the varied accounts of her demise but also seeks to universalize her story, as the author uncovers an unsavory corner of the American Dream. Bolton was an Osage Indian, a tribe that became unimaginably rich during the first part of this century after oil was discovered on their Oklahoma land. Whites, who had previously taken little notice of it, sought to secure the land by purchase, swindle, subterfuge, and even murder: In what became known as the Osage Reign of Terror, 1%3% of the tribe were killed within a short period of time. Virtually all these deaths were swept under the rug and never investigated. Journeying to Pawhuska, Okla., center of the old Osage reservation, the author becomes convinced that Bolton was indeed murdered, probably by her mother's husband, in an attempt to get her oil royalties. As he searches for clues to a homicide, he gets in touch with his Indian past and comes to know himself better. It's all very intriguing and reads like a murder mystery, but the book is flawed by McAuliffe's essentializing of Indians. His attribution of his alcoholism to his Indianness, for instance, comes perilously close to racism. (Author tour)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1994

ISBN: 0-8129-2150-X

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Times/Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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.