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CRIME SCENE

Name: CRIME SCENE
Author: Mitch Gelman
ISBN: 0-8129-2084-8

ON THE STREETS WITH A ROOKIE POLICE REPORTER

by Mitch Gelman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1992

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A tumultuous year (1989) in the life of a cub crime-reporter for New York Newsday. Unlike the comparable chronicles of Miami Herald reporter Edna Buchanan, Gelman's calendar-driven memoir emphasizes not the crimes he covered but his responses to them. And that's a shame, because the author's childhood infatuation with reporting (influence of a magazine-editor dad); awe at desking-down at One Police Plaza and working with Jimmy Breslin; rage at police-department politics; delight at falling in love with a fellow reporter; growing cynicism in the face of a year's worth of mean streets, and so on, simply aren't sufficiently novel, charming, or instructive to warrant in- depth coverage. What does demand attention are Gelman's convincing descriptions of a big-city reporter's grind—being available around the clock; racing into savage neighborhoods for a scoop; pushing against deadline to massage raw notes into a serviceable story. And when, infrequently, he does cover a crime and its aftermath in depth—the trials of the widow of a cop shot into a coma; the tragedy of a ten-year-old rape victim—Gelman displays the sort of clean-limbed, affecting prose that presumably made him a valued tabloid crime-reporter (he's since moved on to covering urban affairs). At times, moreover, he weighs in with startling insights- -as in his analysis of detectives: ``They spend so many hours trying to understand the criminal mind that they develop similar traits. They are skeptical of everyone and everything. Whether they are charming, slick, hot or cold, they always have an angle....'' Too often, though, Gelman's self-absorbed approach gets in the way of the terrific stories he has to tell; for the real moxie, read Buchanan.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-8129-2084-8

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Times/Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1992

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.