An instructor at a Minnesota fitness center run by her husband, Robert K. Cooper (Health & Fitness Excellence, 1988), Leslie Cooper offers here some run-of-the-treadmill dietary advice (essentially, whole-grain complex carbohydrates and limit fat to a moderate 25% of calories), as well as recipes that avoid red meat and use whole-grain breads and pastas and part-skim cheeses—but that by no means eliminate eggs and butter. Lame tips on eating out (to select a restaurant, ``the yellow pages are a good place to start''), packing lunch, and planning quick breakfasts (leftover muffins, nonfat yogurt) precede a 28-day meal plan that includes such dinner entrees as soybean au gratin and baked potato with tuna sauce. The recipes all come with nutritional analyses, a service less unique than the author makes out—as are her ``low fat'' adaptations: She acknowledges in introducing her guacamole that avocados are high in fat but claims outlandishly that ``most recipes also call for mayonnaise or sour cream.'' Overall, Cooper displays a fuzzy understanding of food and nutrition (she seems to think that olive oil is polyunsaturated and that polyunsaturated is best) and makes some arbitrary substitutions and recommendations. If Cooper didn't so exaggerate her own contributions, it would be easier to buy the book as another addition to the low-fat shelf, simply for its undemanding moderation. As is, it's harmless.
Pub Date: June 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-395-51605-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1991
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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