Norman Mailer has evolved a theory that an author must create a public personality for himself in order to sell books, and in accordance with this theory he here publishes everything he has ever written, each piece accompanied with a long and frequently fascinating introduction concerning how the work was written, what he thought about it when he wrote it, and how he thinks about it now. The material includes five excellent early short stories, his columns for the Village Voice, his now famous essay The White Negro, a couple of other (and much better essays) on David Riesman and Western Defense, a pair of passages from his forthcoming novel, as yet untitled but than which nothing more clinical has been seen since Edmund Wilson's notorious Princess with the Golden Hair. Mr. Mailer also includes a lot of opinions of his peers in the field of literature which are back-breakingly honest and also pretty shrewd. Mr. Mailer is by far the most articulate (literarily speaking) exponent of the way of life he prefers to call Hip (rather than Beat), and it is therefore the more unfortunate that another of his theories requires him to use Anglo- Saxon monosyllables on principle, because his Advertisements is practically certain to be banned in many localities, and possibly nationally. There is a good deal of nonsense in this, much very strong meat, and a lot that stands up well in spite of the framework. This is sure to be some kind of success de scandal, but the bullheaded integrity behind the undertaking compels a certain respect.
Pub Date: Nov. 6, 1959
ISBN: 0674005902
Page Count: 540
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1959
BOOK REVIEW
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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