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WORLDS WITHOUT END

Name: WORLDS WITHOUT END
Author: Museum of Television & Radio
ISBN: 0-8109-3997-5

THE ART AND HISTORY OF THE SOAP OPERA

by Museum of Television & Radio with Ron Simon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 1997

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Published as a companion to an exhibition at the Museum of Television and Radio's New York and Los Angeles sites, this very serious anthology attempts to explain the qualities that have given soap operas such longevity and persistent popularity. Simon's essay ``Serial Seduction'' offers a thumbnail history of the genre, tracing its form and contents back to the genius of Irna Phillips, who in 1930 launched her first of many soaps (among them the longest-running soap, The Guiding Light, which premiered on radio in 1937). Louise Spence, in ``Watching Daytime Soap Operas,'' and Jane Feuer, in ``Different Soaps for Different Folks,'' plumb the genre's hold on its considerable audience. And, for comic relief, three pieces by James Thurber, skewering the form's pretensions and singular strangeness, are included. A brief review of the major soaps concludes the volume. A browsable account of a ubiquitous but insufficiently studied part of modern American culture—one that Thurber labeled ``the story-coated advertising medium that either fascinates or distresses so many millions of people.'' (140 illustrations, 60 in color)

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1997

ISBN: 0-8109-3997-5

Page Count: 176

Publisher: Abrams

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1997

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.