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GOLDEN STONE

Name: GOLDEN STONE
Author: Laura Jackson
ISBN: 0-312-09820-0

THE UNTOLD LIFE AND TRAGIC DEATH OF BRIAN JONES

by Laura Jackson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 15, 1993

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Gossipy account of the rise and fall of Brian Jones, founder of the Rolling Stones. Jackson (a British freelance writer) tells us that though Jones was a loner as a child, his natural proclivity for music expressed itself early on and, by age 12, he was ``already a brilliant guitarist.'' Jones took up the saxophone to emulate his hero, jazz great Charlie Parker, and became enamored of blues and R&B. By age 14, he'd fathered his first child—an ominous sign of troubles ahead. Settling in swinging London in his late teens, Jones soon became a central part of the exploding blues scene and, from among hangers-on, began to assemble the band that would become the Stones. The group's rapid rise to the top—followed by increased tension as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards tried to edge the unreliable Jones out of the band—is chronicled here, along with Jones's fatal attraction to beautiful but self-centered model Anita Pallenberg (who would eventually dump him, when his weakened position in the band became apparent, for the more powerful Richards). Jones's brutal ouster from the band, as well as the mysteries surrounding his death by drowning in his own swimming pool, are recounted in all their gory detail. But Jackson inflates Jones's importance to the Stones through incessant hero worship (he was ``undoubtedly the most talented member of the band,'' she assures us more than once). Moreover, although Jones's contributions to the band's recordings are discussed briefly, Jackson's repetition of age-old mistakes (such as referring to the Robert Johnson/Elmore James classic ``Dust My Broom'' as ``Dust My Blues'') makes her musical analysis the weakest part of the book, while her fanzine-style writing (``His tantalizing body language whipped girlish screams into howling hysteria'') makes for some rough going. An engrossing story, lamely told. (Thirty-four b&w photographs) (For a look at another Stone, see Davin Seay's Mick Jagger, reviewed below.)

Pub Date: Nov. 15, 1993

ISBN: 0-312-09820-0

Page Count: 256

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1993

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.