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NOFZIGER

Name: NOFZIGER
Author: Lyn Nofziger
ISBN: 0-89526-513-3

by Lyn Nofziger ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1992

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Republican Party heavyweight Nofziger's political memoir details Ronald Reagan's rise from perceived joke to popular President, and Nofziger's role in that rise. The most interesting passages here involve Reagan's early days in politics—his transition from former actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild to governor of California. Backed by Republican money-men Holmes Tuttle and Henry Salvatori, Reagan proved almost immediately to have superb political instincts. His reliance on advisers and ``macromanagement'' style, according to Nofziger, were apparent from the first. As governor, he urged aides—caught up in their importance and prone to work late—to go home to their families. Another Reagan phenomenon that surfaced right away was the governor's omnivorous but unselective memory. Nofziger, though a Reagan loyalist to the core, is catty enough to relay that Reagan's drivers and security men, prone to express their political opinions, were ordered to stop lest Reagan repeat their layman's views in an unguarded moment. If Reagan is the book's overarching hero, one of its main villains is James Baker, perceived by Nofziger as an opportunist who muted the projected Reagan revolution and betrayed true believers, a vindictive heretic willing to ``use Reagan for his own ends.'' Nofziger has spent decades around electoral politics and the corridors of power, as a press secretary and as as assistant to the President for political affairs in the Reagan White House—and he is a bit flip about flaws in the system. ``After all,'' he crows, ``anyone can lie to the press, but confusing them with the truth is an art I am proud to have mastered.'' Yet when Nofziger discusses his entanglement in the American justice system—he was cleared of unethical lobbying charges—his bitterness knows no bounds. A partisan, mean-spirited, but sharply observed view of a fascinating political era.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-89526-513-3

Page Count: 352

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1992

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.