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YOUR WILDEST DREAMS, WITHIN REASON

Name: YOUR WILDEST DREAMS, WITHIN REASON
Author: Mike Sacks
ISBN: 978-1-935639-02-2

by Mike Sacks ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2011

An enjoyable collection of zaniness best read in small doses.

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A comical collection of essays, illustrations and one-liners.

Humor writer and Vanity Fair staffer Sacks (And Here’s the Kicker: Conversations with 21 Top Humor Writers on their Craft, 2009, etc.) opens with a warning: “The vast majority of these short humor pieces—or the random list, the occasional illustration, other effluvia—have absolutely nothing to do with each other. There is no overarching theme, no recurring characters, nothing that links one piece to another.” It’s an accurate assessment. The collection veers in various directions, many of the pieces involving the author taking on personas to match the lunacy of the prose. One of the more successful personas is Rhon Penny (“silent h”), a wanna-be writer soliciting literary giants for blurbs and collaborative projects: “My publisher/mother tells me a top-notch blurb can mean the difference between Harry Potter-type sales and Harry Stottleberg-type sales (a guy who lives in our building).” Equally enjoyable are Sacks' lists—e.g., “Signs Your College Is Not Very Prestigious,” which include, “Has NCAA’s only cockfighting program” and, “Provost walks around campus with a Burmese python around his neck.” His list “Reasons You’re Still Single” includes such gems as “Perform yoga in parks” and “Carry an NPR Fresh Air tote bag.” Much of Sacks' humor hinges on the reader's willingness to take leaps, to laugh about what is not said, or what is implied. In “When Making Love To Me: What Every Woman Needs To Know,” the author writes, “Love me for who I am and not for what I just did to your armpit.” While Sacks' odd-ball humor is often irreverent, it is never irrelevant. There appears to be some strange care taken in every piece.

An enjoyable collection of zaniness best read in small doses.

Pub Date: March 15, 2011

ISBN: 978-1-935639-02-2

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Tin House

Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2010

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.