The Gulf Coast beckons and Jenkins (Across China, 1986, etc.) heeds its call in this mildly entertaining, slow trawl through southern waters. Travel writers are having a rough time of late on the marital front. Paul Theroux, Bill Barich, Jonathan Maslow—all have hit the road to knit up the pains that accompany family meltdown. Add Peter Jenkins to the ranks, nastily tailspinning after his wife handed him his walking papers. Even a second marriage failed to lift the funk. Then it dawned on him to log a few miles. Why not float the smooth coastal trajectory that runs from the Florida Keys to the humid shores of southern Texas, reckoned Jenkins, fondly recalling that his ``teenage skin, sometimes trashed by zits, had cleared up'' when he spent time at the seashore; perhaps it would have the same balming effect on his trashed psyche. So he bought a boat, took a few piloting lessons, and pushed off. What follows are long portraits of the odd cast of characters he meets on his travels (interspersed with boating travails, occasional flashes of Gulf lore, and snatches of local natural history): charter fishermen out of the Keys; rough-and-tumble, gator-stomping bayou brothers; jungle-dwelling exdrug smugglers now into designing computer software; the aged ladies of Wilcox County, Ala.; tough, sand-land cattle ranchers from the Texas tidal reaches. But Jenkins overdoes these sketches. So desperate is he for adventure and release, every soul he encounters is given a hagiographical aura: Rough-hewn, colorful, wise, they're too good to be true—or believable. The book's most genuine episodes are at tableside: Rarely have the pleasures of raw oyster po' boys and spiced crawdads been sung with such relish. Not without diverting moments, but not the odyssey Jenkins wants us to think, either. (color and b&w photos)
Pub Date: April 1, 1995
ISBN: 1-55853-327-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1995
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
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
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