A tribute so pleasant and persuasive that swarming tourists may make it difficult for Fitch and Tulka to find a table.
Two devoted patrons of the celebrated spot that has served coffee and booze to Hemingway, Picasso and numerous other notables display their enduring affection in words and drawings.
Fitch (Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child, 1997, etc.) joins forces with illustrator and editorial cartoonist Tulka to fashion a charming love-letter to their favorite hangout: Café Le Sélect in Paris. The format and text are as unpretentious as a paper napkin, and readers’ responses will range from sighs of nostalgia (aw, they no longer roast their own beans!) to gasps of surprise (poet Hart Crane once started a brawl there) to smiles—maybe even laughs—at the myriad illustrations, many of which consume an entire page. Among the standouts: Hart Crane pictured with a leering sailor in the near background; 18 varieties of French noses; a youthful Bill Murray looking frisky; a well-coiffed Hemingway, writing implement in hand; Isadora Duncan reading a newspaper about the Sacco and Vanzetti case. But this is not just a gallery of celebrities. Tulka also provides full-page drawings of each waiter and many genial caricatures of today’s regulars. Meanwhile, Fitch swiftly sketches Le Sélect’s history. It opened in 1925, is mentioned in The Sun Also Rises, has been run by the same family since 1978. The authors believe the café has endured because of its history, its location (close to the Metro), its determination to avoid commercialization (it sells no T-shirts or refrigerator magnets) and its devotion to service. The owners and employees treat the regulars well, allowing them to sit and sip as long as they want. The authors also offer the history of coffee and cafés, a few of Le Sélect’s top recipes and a description of the its routines and rituals.
A tribute so pleasant and persuasive that swarming tourists may make it difficult for Fitch and Tulka to find a table.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-933368-85-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Soft Skull Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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
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