by Mark Derr ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1997
A sweeping, lapidary history of our relationship with dogs from Derr (The Frontiersman, 1993, etc.). A fan of the dog for many years, Derr set out to write a cultural history of the dog-human nexus, one that touched on the emotional, intellectual, and physical aspects, the good, bad, and ugly ways we go about communing with the beasts. He succeeds admirably. In easy prose, he melds all manner of things canine into an entertaining story: the first encounters, eons back, with the quick, rough brutes that scavenged at Paleolithic campsites (laugh, if you will, at dog cemeteries, but the Basketmaker culture of 12,000 years ago mummified their dogs); through the slow social, cultural, and morphological shifts away from wolf to dog; on to the many hats that dogs have historically worn: sentinels and hunters, draft animals and guides, entertainers and companions, and, occasionally, main course at the family dinner table. Derr suggests that ``the single greatest problem with dogs is people,'' and he goes on to chronicle the misdeeds, from plain old abuse and neglect to the use of dogs to terrorize populations to the nasty little sport of dogfighting. Derr adeptly eviscerates the practice of show breeding, with its attendant genetic disorders and woeful tinkerings with temperament (a subject he first broached in an article in the Atlantic Monthly). Plaited through the story are anecdotes from mushers, ranchers, hunters (particularly good material on the feists and curs of the American South), shepherds, and from his own long association with dogs. What manifests itself here, brightly, is Derr's unquestionable affection for Canis lupus familiaris. It is a love song, a celebration, and a well-told tale. (photos and illustrations, not seen)
Pub Date: June 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-8050-4063-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1997
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by Mark Derr
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by Mark Derr
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by Mark Derr
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 E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis
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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developed by Ludwig Bemelmans ; illustrated by Steven Salerno
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ; illustrated by Steven Salerno
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