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WOMAN AT THE EDGE OF TWO WORLDS

Name: WOMAN AT THE EDGE OF TWO WORLDS
Author: Lynn V. Andrews
ISBN: 0-06-016956-7

THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY OF MENOPAUSE

by Lynn V. Andrews ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 3, 1993

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Given the title, as well as the neo-Castanedan spiritual odyssey that the author has undertaken in the past (Shakkai, 1992; The Woman of Wyrrd, 1990; etc.), Andrews's newest journey is ironically physical, even clinical, seeming to contradict her own thesis that a spiritual awakening compensates for the physical losses occasioned by menopause. In spite of her ritual dancing and eating, Andrews, we learn, suffers severe menopausal symptoms: sweating, crying, swelling, and physiological changes that she describes in amazing detail (bone loss; ``thinning of the vagina'')—with these details supplemented as she tells more than most readers need or will want to know about a gynecological examination by the ubiquitous heartless brute who so often shows up as a physician in feminist literature. Figures from previous books—the indefatigable Agnes Whistling Elk and Ruby Plenty Chiefs—appear, along with gourds, costumes, talking sticks, ``personal smudge bowls,'' a finicky diet, and personable wolves and uncanny bears who materialize for ritual dances. But instead of Andrews's usual dream flights to alien cultures or visits to other times, here she flies by scheduled airline, gets caught in traffic jams, mourns the death of her mother, and, while swimming with her boyfriend in Nevada, deals with the embarrassment of her wayward estrogen patch floating to the surface. She discusses menopause and women's life cycles with her apprentices, and confesses to having been raised in a dysfunctional family and abused as a child, and to being afflicted with denial. Boring, humorless, and unimaginative. Anyone interested in menopause should turn instead to Gail Sheehy's The Silent Passage or Germaine Greer's The Change. (Illustrations)

Pub Date: Sept. 3, 1993

ISBN: 0-06-016956-7

Page Count: 304

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 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.