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SHE BOP

Name: SHE BOP
Author: Lucy O'Brien
ISBN: 0-14-025155-3

THE DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF WOMEN IN ROCK, POP AND SOUL

by Lucy O'Brien ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 9, 1996

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An overambitious and underwrought attempt to explain the context, obstacles, and achievements of every woman ever to have a career in pop music. British music journalist O'Brien (Annie Lennox, not reviewed, etc.) trots out a handful of unsurprising themes: Women historically have been expected to be decorative ``girl singers,'' not serious musicians; jealous or nervous men have limited the careers of female instrumentalists; women are often at the mercy of sexist record company packaging; black women encounter different obstacles than white women; Madonna is an admirable careerist. O'Brien supports these assertions by quoting from her interviews with dozens of women in the industry, including a few luminaries, such as Nina Simone, Alison Moyet, and Cyndi Lauper. Generally, though, the list of those she has spoken to over the years is weighted heavily toward the British and the obscure. And because she's aiming at encyclopedic definitiveness, it's impossible not to notice the arbitrariness of her biographical snippets and her scattershot forays into analysis. ``Like an inverted saint, [SinÇad O'Connor] has followed the edicts of her own faith to come up with a pure spirituality both piercingly original and tender,'' she offers pointlessly; and while elsewhere she discusses Prince's influence on women in pop, nowhere does she mention O'Connor's biggest hit, the Prince-penned ``Nothing Compares 2 U.'' One such omission would be a quibble, but the book is built on holes like these. O'Brien's most incisive chapter, on women in punk, illuminates the anarchic freedoms that punk allowed women, as well as the old gender prejudices that paradoxically underlay punk's would-be anarchy. Too often, however, this reads like a catchall for whatever stray reference material came to hand. Until a more astute overview comes along, She Bop—whose title comes from a song about masturbation—makes for an unsatisfying stopgap. (b&w photos, not seen)

Pub Date: Jan. 9, 1996

ISBN: 0-14-025155-3

Page Count: 480

Publisher: Penguin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1995

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.