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THE MAN BEHIND THE BOOK

Name: THE MAN BEHIND THE BOOK
Author: Louis Auchincloss
ISBN: 0-395-82748-5

LITERARY PROFILES

by Louis Auchincloss ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 2, 1996

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In the best belletrist tradition, Auchincloss offers these 23 literary sketches, short essays full of moral earnestness (though he's profoundly sympathetic to his subjects' frailties) and casual insight. What he doesn't tolerate is artless writing or sloppy thinking, which is why Auchincloss never inflates his arguments on behalf of these (often forgotten) figures. His subjects range from the pleasurable middle-brow fiction of F. Marion Crawford to the scathing attacks on American materialism contained in Robert Herrick's once-popular novels. Auchincloss not only celebrates out- of-fashion writers, he rescues a number of better-known authors from their embrace by trendy academics who are quick to impute adversarial notions where there may be none. Walter Pater, for all his alleged decadence, was in fact a Christian aesthete who thought that beauty ennobled and strengthened but was not an end in itself. Similarly, Auchincloss asserts that Sarah Orne Jewett offers more than grist for the gender-studies mill, especially when one reads beyond her obvious sentimentality. Auchincloss is particularly sensitive to writers who share his own fictional concerns, such as Robert Grant, a novelist of manners whose portrait of turn-of-the- century Boston might seem irrelevant today. Likewise, Auchincloss values those authors (such as the Belle Epoque dramatist Paul Hervicu) who understand the pull of social convention, the lure of money, the need to dwell in the ``great world'' of human affairs. Auchincloss considers S.N. Behrman ``the wittiest playwright since Oscar Wilde'' and admires Robert Sherwood but admits that his popular dramas indulged in much ``half baked idealism.'' An appreciation of Maxwell Anderson's efforts in verse drama segues into a surprising aside on T.S. Eliot's superior work in the genre. Henry James, ``the Master,'' is a touchstone throughout, guiding spirit as both critic and creator. A modest collection of critical essays that subtly defies the orthodoxies of the academy.

Pub Date: Dec. 2, 1996

ISBN: 0-395-82748-5

Page Count: 192

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
A VOICE FROM OLD NEW YORK
by Louis Auchincloss

- BOOK REVIEW
LAST OF THE OLD GUARD
by Louis Auchincloss

- BOOK REVIEW
THE HEADMASTER’S DILEMMA
by Louis Auchincloss

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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.