Unremarkable collection, overall, but a touching mirror into the souls of the greener generation.
Mildly informative collection of 23 essays (and 1 poem) on the state of the literary life, by youngish authors and Web-crawlers.
Smokler, founder of centralbooking.com, divides the text into separate sections. In “Beginnings,” his earnest literary fledglings recount how they got started. “Not Fade Away” explains why reading Hemingway during his Army stint in Somalia prodded Christian Bauman to start writing—“they should take away my writing license for saying such a thing,” he jokes. “The Invisible Narrator” describes Howard Hunt’s segue from writing for magazines to composing successful fiction. Michelle Richmond meditates on the empty merits of earning an MFA in “From Fayetteville to South Beach.” Then, seven essays on “The Writing Life” expose just how egotistical writers are. Glen David Gold admits to shameless self-Googling in “Your Own Personal Satan,” while Neal Pollack’s “Her Dark Silent Cowboy No More” recounts the exchange of e-mails he solicited after his book Never Mind the Pollacks (2003) reached “cult” status. “The trajectory of my life has been set by the movements of dollars,” Benjamin Nugent reveals in “Security.” The final sections, “The Now” and “The Future,” showcase essayists attempting more grand statements. Tracy Chevalier, one of the better-known authors here, gives lackluster Top Ten reading recommendations in “Lying to the Optician.” K.M. Soehnlein’s laments gay writing’s loss of prominence. Paul Flores, in “Voice of a Generation,” describes his workshop experience using Spanglish rap to promote the spoken word. His generation must contend with an “unprecedented number of time-sucking lures,” such as video games, Tom Bissell moans in “Distractions.” Readers worrying that every member of this age group is unbearably self-important should turn immediately to Robert Lanham’s scorching “The McEggers Tang Clan,” hands-down the collection’s funniest essay.
Unremarkable collection, overall, but a touching mirror into the souls of the greener generation.Pub Date: June 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-465-07844-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Basic Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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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