In her dedication to causes Maria Child's career seems a slightly milder version of Harriet Beecher Stowe's. This is not to say that she was any less fervent in her convictions or less active in promoting her causes, but her views were more open and less revolutionary in their implications. She was not a great thinker or writer but she was a courageous one. Her beliefs are portrayed here with their innuendoes and with their inconsistencies. Primarily she was an abolitionist, but not a militant one, and most of her books and articles dealt with the problems of slavery. For a time she was editor of the Liberator, and was ridiculed both by those who opposed the movement and by those who supported the more incendiary views of the Liberator. She particularly attacked the Northern business men who supported slavery in the South and the covert racism of the "free" states. In this respect the book has particular contemporary interest, for it shows the roots and ramifications of a problem which has only recently been admitted. Maria Child's other interests included religion, from a humanistic stand, and women's rights, which she strongly believed in and exemplified. The book offers some delightful background details, including descriptions of Boston and New York during the mid-nineteenth century.
Pub Date: April 15, 1965
ISBN: 0440078148
Page Count: -
Publisher: T.Y. Crowell
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1965
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
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