A fast-paced bio that recounts how a middle-aged rock band gave the lie to the guy who said there are no second acts in American lives. Pop-music journalist Huxley (Rolling Stone, Billboard) traces Aerosmith's heady ascent to megastardom in the '70s, its commercial nosedive into a morass of drugs and alcohol in the early '80s, and its subsequent renascence on the wings of a management team savvy enough to guide the band's members to 12-step programs. While Aerosmith's long journey to sobriety is familiar, having been told ad nauseam in both the music and mainstream presses, Huxley does manage to render an accurate picture of the depths to which rich, pampered rock stars can sink. More affecting than the band's druggy war stories, however, are the glimpses into singer Steven Tyler's and guitarist Joe Perry's formative years. Born into middle-class families, both reached adolescence at the inception of the '60s rock revolution and jumped into music feet-first. Tyler grew up in New York City and was thrown out of high school in the early '60s after buying marijuana from an undercover narc; the rest of his education took place among musicians and freaks on the streets of Greenwich Village. The Boston-born Perry dropped out of prep school to pursue his muse while working in a factory. His comments on rock's impact on his teenage consciousness speak volumes: ``I'd wake up in the morning and I wouldn't drink any coffee or take any speed, I'd just put on Ten Years After's `Goin' Home' and I'd be up and moving for the rest of the day.'' Huxley's factual, lively account provides a good look at a rock band that narrowly escaped both burning out and fading away. (15 b&w photos, 8 pages color photos, not seen)
Pub Date: March 17, 1995
ISBN: 0-312-11737-X
Page Count: 256
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1995
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
