by Marianne Walker ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 31, 1993
Perhaps it's only to be expected that the love story of John Marsh and Margaret Mitchell should be—at least as described here- -as romantic as the colossus it produced. Drawing on a cache of family letters and memorabilia, as well as on numerous interviews, Kentucky professor Walker exhaustively examines the loving 24-year marriage (begun in 1925) between two dissimilar but complementary figures. As she details Mitchell and Marsh's early lives, their first meeting, and their bumpy courtship—Mitchell married and divorced another man in the midst of it—Walker also shows that ``Marsh's deep attachment to Margaret Mitchell was pivotal to her work and life.'' A journalist and advertising man, Marsh provided the ``technical skills, the self- discipline or the confidence'' that transformed Mitchell's ideas into the completed manuscript of Gone with the Wind. Meanwhile, though deeply insecure and plagued by ailments both real and imagined, Mitchell had all the necessary ``fiery imagination, the hardy attachment to her environment and raw material'' that a writer needs. While Marsh worked long hours editing at night and on weekends, Mitchell, when well enough, wrote and researched the history. Marsh himself was often ill, and what's so dispiriting about the pair's story is that though Gone with the Wind brought them fame and tremendous fortune, it seems to have brought them little joy. Hounded by the press and public, the couple lived modestly and traveled rarely. The novel became a demanding incubus, the child they never had, as Mitchell dealt with correspondence and Marsh took charge of the business and legal sides—a full-time job in itself. A cautionary tale of excess—too much devotion, too much fame, and, here, occasionally too much detail—that's an informative and thoughtful addition to the ongoing saga of Gone With The Wind (which includes, for those more interested in Mitchell than Mitchell-Marsh, Darden Asbury Pyron's outstanding Southern Daughter, 1991). (Sixty photographs—not seen) (First printing of 25,000)
Pub Date: Oct. 31, 1993
ISBN: 1-56145-082-0
Page Count: 608
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1993
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
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
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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