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ABRACADABRA RX

Name: ABRACADABRA RX
Author: Malorie Barbaria
ISBN: 978-0-9794143-1-2

REMEDIES FOR LIFE

by Malorie Barbaria ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 13, 2017

An encouraging resource for self-knowledge and mystical healing that seems more focused than previous installments.

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This third entry in Barbaria’s (Abracadabra: Create as You Speak, 2007, etc.) motivational series offers “antidotes” to spiritual and psychic “poisons” as it promotes day-to-day wellness.

At its core, the author’s newest self-help resource is a collection of prescriptions for living that focuses less on achievements and more on the notion of self-healing. It also continues to advocate for the rejection of the mundane and for the reclamation of imagination through positive thinking. Along the way, Barbaria draws on anecdotes ranging from her success in real estate, her experience as a mother, and the myriad characters she’s encountered during her own struggles and spiritual explorations. Many of her lessons encourage meditation, prayer, and good humor while avoiding negative influences; they also advocate turning anxious energy into positive motivation. She often frames the lessons in terms of psychic “jujitsu” or in the language of spiritually based healing. The philosophy that emerges cherry-picks ideas from numerous areas of study, including but not limited to Hinduism, Buddhism, aikido, and yoga, while also citing the ideas of controversial figures, such as the late Japanese author Masaru Emoto, as proof of a more magical world. In addition, the author stresses the importance of addressing old traumas by showing how they can later manifest as new suffering. Her book employs a formula that’s easy for readers to approach and revisit; each section offers a short observation or hypothetical situation accompanied by light counsel by the author and quotations from various people, ranging from Albert Einstein to Friedrich Nietzsche to James Brown. This structure makes it possible to address passages either separately or together and in any order that the reader might choose. The mixed metaphors and verbosity of previous Abracadabra books return here, but it’s impossible to deny the author’s enthusiasm. Barbaria’s willingness to expose her own vulnerabilities, and even the shortcomings that she saw in her earlier books, breaks up the excitable argot.

An encouraging resource for self-knowledge and mystical healing that seems more focused than previous installments.

Pub Date: July 13, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-9794143-1-2

Page Count: 314

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2018

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

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.