This pleasing collection of short, intimate biographies of performers conveys the essence of the traditional country genre by focusing on icons such as Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, Buck Owens, Chet Atkins, George Jones, Johnny Cash, and Patsy Cline. Dawidoff (The Catcher Was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg, 1994) explores the masters of old-time country music (contemporary country stars such as Garth Brooks are dismissed as ``hat acts'') from the ``Father of Bluegrass Music,'' Bill Monroe, and his banjo player Earl Scruggs, both of whom cranked up country to breakneck speed, to country contemporaries in the old tradition, such as Emmylou Harris. Though chapters focus on one performer or act, Dawidoff frequently stresses the way in which friendships and collaborations keep country music vital. Many of his subjects provide rich, elucidating vignettes: Cash recalls the time he hit his pet ostrich with a plank and the bird retaliated by breaking three of the singer's ribs; Charlie Louvin, of the famous Louvin Brothers duet, notes that he still habitually moves off to one side of the microphone when he reaches the harmony part, making room for his long-dead brother; and George Jones, once a drinking terror, insists that he now enjoys nothing more than staying home and mowing his lawn. The author's reverence for his subjects is tempered with an astute assessment of their strengths and weaknesses: Johnny Cash, Dawidoff suggests, is a driven performer and self-mythologizer who has sustained a lengthy career by repeatedly repackaging the work produced during an early burst of creativity. Women country stars are well represented here, including Sister Rose Maddox and Sara Carter, among others. Dawidoff's fine book puts country music in its place: an American phenomenon with deep, heartfelt roots. The collection's thoughtfully notated discography will undoubtedly be used to feed the reader's new or rekindled interest in country music. (40 b&w photos, not seen) (Author tour)
Pub Date: March 24, 1997
ISBN: 0-679-41567-X
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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