A brief but affecting account of personal triumph in the face of youthful disadvantages.
An accomplished U.S. Navy chief petty officer reflects on the lessons that he learned during a difficult childhood.
Debut author Spence was largely raised by his paternal grandmother, Evelyn Spence, in the countryside on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. His mother had become disabled and epileptic after a stroke, and his mercurial father struggled with drug addiction, so neither was a stable presence during his early years. Evelyn, however, was a model authority figure—gentle but strict, and devoted to her spiritual life—and she provided the author with a loving and safe environment in which to grow, despite her modest financial means. But when the author was 13, Evelyn died of cancer, and his life was thrown into a tailspin. As an impulsive teenager without direction, he flitted from one transient living arrangement to another. He graduated high school in 2000 but remained adrift. After he was arrested for driving with a suspended license, he decided that his life needed purpose and commitment, so he enlisted in the Navy. The remainder of Spence’s story is deeply inspiring; he enjoyed a successful military career, quickly rising through the ranks and serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan. During his service, he was able to earn two college degrees and rise to the level of chief petty officer. Spence says that he discovered ways to overcome his self-destructive tendencies: “I used my shortcomings as fuel to push me throughout my career to be the best I could be.” His story is a heartwarmingly positive one, and he tells it with admirable humility and self-effacing candor. Spence’s prose is companionably informal, and his reflections concise. As a result, this work feels more like a long essay than a full-length book. The overall narrative arc is meandering, at times—Spence digresses at one point to reflect on lessons that he learned while dating, for instance—and his accounts of his family’s genealogy can be overly detailed and confusing. However, this memoir remains enjoyably instructive, and it serves as a moving homage to those who supported the author. (Personal, color photographs are included.)
A brief but affecting account of personal triumph in the face of youthful disadvantages.Pub Date: May 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63393-619-5
Page Count: 106
Publisher: Koehler Books
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
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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