Though Lively (Moon Tiger; Perfect Happiness) can be satirical, even wicked, these 36 stories (two earlier collections from England plus assorted recent stories, some published in US magazines) are mostly gentle, affectionate portraits of English men and women who muddle through. While there's a host of types and situations here, most center on village streets, petty bourgeoisie society, and academia. In truth, when a character in "Venice, Now and Then" says that "Things are so inconstant. That's the trouble," she could be speaking for most of her fictional cohorts: an aging English lady with insomnia ("The Voice of God in Adelaide Terrace"); a befuddled housewife whose "treasure" of a maid turns out to be a domineering sneak-thief ("Help"); and a professor suffering through the small humiliations of academia ("Revenant as Typewriter"), among many others. In addition to "Help," other notables include: "Nothing Missing but the Samovar," about a German Anglophile who spends a touching season with a sympathetically drawn family of shabbygenteel aristocrats at the end of their economic tether; "Corruption," a delicately textured portrait involving an aging judge, his wife, a female interloper, and a box of confiscated pornography; "The Pill Box," very short and a little metafictional ("How, having glimpsed the possibility of the impossible, can the world remain as steady as you had supposed?"); and" The Dream Merchant," a whimsical portrait of a sensible man who sells dreams from 9:30-5:00 but doesn't believe in them: "that was the secret of his success." Occasionally cloying or thin, but mostly solid work, full of character, incident, and elegiac charm.
Pub Date: March 11, 1986
ISBN: 8021-1156-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: Grove
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The world is a perilous place, or so it seems to a small cub named Alfie. This bear’s journey to the jungle playground is filled with encounters: with a snapping crocodile, undulating python, menacing jackal, and a fearsome tiger. Fortunately for Alfie, his mother accompanies him, offering reassurance and a place to hide, all the while providing useful advice, e.g., “Let the jackal run along.” Every harrowing (at least for Alfie) event is calmly resolved as the wild creatures continue on their way and Alfie is seen in the final spread cheerfully sliding down the trunk of an elephant. Children will delight in rescuing Alfie by pulling tabs that send him into his mother’s arms or behind her back when danger approaches. Clark’s vividly hued jungle habitat offers a glimpse of a unique assortment of animals not commonly seen in board books. While Alfie perceives the various creatures as threatening, Clark carefully prevents them from appearing so to readers. It may be a wild world out there, but Alfie learns that with proper care, it’s a manageable one. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30127-3
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
Calamity, a camel with a peevish attitude about her life in a caravan, trades in her heavy packs for a colder climate and skis and soon yearns for her former life. It becomes quite clear that camels were not designed for snowy slopes. When perfection isn’t achieved in Calamity’s new habitat, the old woes inherent in carrying burdens through the desert seem far less tiresome the second time around. It’s a particularly easy lesson, learned without fuss or tension, depicted in Busby’s cartoonish illustrations. Readers will enjoy one go-around, but this story from Simon (see review, above) is probably too one-note and simplistic for repeat readings. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-899607-59-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
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