bookshelf

ALONG THE EDGE OF AMERICA

Name: ALONG THE EDGE OF AMERICA
Author: Peter Jenkins
ISBN: 1-55853-327-3

by Peter Jenkins ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1995

bookshelf

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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

bookshelf

TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

bookshelf

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.