by Paul William Roberts ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1993
Fine, quirky account of Roberts's recent travels through Egypt's teeming modern cities, Pharaonic monuments, ancient monasteries, and Edenic oases. Always insightful, frequently amusing, the Toronto-based journalist brings a fresh vision to a familiar subject. In addition to visiting such sites as the temples of Luxor, Karnak, and Abu Simbel, the Monastery of St. Catherine in the Sinai desert, the burial chamber of the pyramid of Mycerinus (where he spends the night), and neon-and-Naugahyde Red Sea resorts, Roberts takes us to an eerie Sufi ceremony in the back streets of Cairo, to the crest of Mount Sinai (where bus loads of grumbling pilgrims await the dawn), and on a hot-air balloon flight over the Valley of the Kings. He also interviews Nobel-winning author Naguib Mahfouz and noted scholar Ahmad Shalaby—and finds both to be pompous and overbearing. Roberts is far more impressed with now-Secretary General of the UN Boutros-Gahli, whom he describes as ``a formidable optimist'' and who evidently left the author a wiser man for having met him. Roberts's knowledge of and affection for Egypt is palpable, but these qualities do not blind him to the inanities of the land. He traverses a desert on a camel called ``Michael Jackson''; he wonders why a condom should have been named after Ramses, who reputedly sired 186 children; he speculates that the lack of conversational ability of a German mortician he meets may be ``an occupational hazard.'' Informative and entertaining: Roberts is the sort of witty, knowledgeable, stimulating guide every armchair traveler hankers for but seldom finds.
Pub Date: March 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-679-42104-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1993
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
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
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis
by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
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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developed by Ludwig Bemelmans ; illustrated by Steven Salerno
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ; illustrated by Steven Salerno
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