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A LIFETIME OF RICHES

Name: A LIFETIME OF RICHES
Author: Jr. Ritt
ISBN: 0-525-94001-4

THE BIOGRAPHY OF NAPOLEON HILL

by Jr. Ritt & Kirk Landers ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 10, 1995

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A fulsome life story of an evangelistic lecturer, a champion of Babbittry, and author of the prototypical self-helper, the late Professor Napoleon Hill, is offered by an interested party. Ritt is executive director, secretary, treasurer, and general factotum of the Napoleon Hill Foundation. With freelance writer Landers he presents, in tones of awe entirely unjustified by the facts provided, the tale of a self-made man. Hill, in case you didn't know, was the author of Think and Grow Rich! and other popular self-starters for the lumpen. It all began in 1908 when, as Hill often said, no less a personage than Andrew Carnegie challenged the young reporter to interview men of the Scottish captain of industry's ilk, discover the secrets of their successes, and report the results to an anxious world. This became Hill's mission over the years, through three marriages, financial Waterloo after Waterloo, and a generally feckless career. Stalwart Nap learned the way to wealth and general good times from the likes of Thomas A. Edison, Henry Ford, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and lots of other high achievers. (Unfortunately, the extensive records of his interviews were lost in a fire, he lamented.) Believing that the only limitations are self-imposed, he billed himself as an attorney-at-law, which he was not. He exaggerated his net worth and fibbed about his age. Over and over, in the sometimes purplish prose of his biographers, ``he mulled over his philosophy, his life's work, his greater purpose in being.'' The hokum finally paid off, particularly because of a symbiotic partnership with W. Clement Stone, the beau ideal of insurance salesmen. A puff piece for fans, on the brink of parody. (8 pages b&w photos, not seen).

Pub Date: July 10, 1995

ISBN: 0-525-94001-4

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1995

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

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

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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

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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

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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.