Sixty-five weekly columns, 199193, originally written by the versatile actor/director/novelist/memoirist Ustinov (The Old Man and Mr. Smith, 1991, etc.) for the European. The most judicious summary is the author's confession: ``When presented with a weekly column to fill in a respected newspaper, the temptation is to deal in a personal manner with the latest insult to reason that has been served up piping hot in the world's headlines.'' It's a temptation Ustinov inveterately yields to, and the results, at their best, cut geopolitical crises down to a series of suave blackout sketches—Desert Storm, the vanishing of the USSR, the L.A. riots, the Maastricht treaty, American presidential elections, the Israeli expulsion of terrorists, the Bosnian war. But Ustinov, for all his worldly urbanity as ambassador-at-large for UNICEF, remains as determined a political outsider as Russell Baker, the American columnist he most resembles. And his political analyses—good-hearted liberal commonplaces seasoned with hindsight—aren't trenchantly enough reasoned, or pungently enough expressed, to compel lasting attention. Worse, his less topical pieces—essays in praise of laziness, ``dreaming space,'' and the ordination of women; travel notes from Bangkok, Hong Kong, Australia, Sweden, Amsterdam (special brickbats to Schiphol Airport), Rome, Brussels (``my own country,'' realizes filmdom's Poirot), and Pittsburgh—show Ustinov all too ready to fill up his three-page quota with pleasant, inconsequential musings instead of the telling anecdotes that make him such a splendid raconteur. A fine friendship garland of civilized, perishable memories, but nothing worth saving for strangers. Illustrated with pen-and- ink drawings which show that even Ustinov can't do everything. (First printing of 50,000; $50,000 ad/promo; author tour)
Pub Date: March 24, 1995
ISBN: 0-87975-967-4
Page Count: 218
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1995
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
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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