by Phil Bowhay ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 21, 2008
Lightly likable and none-too-substantive, but pleasant and nostalgic for the demographically similar.
A catchall collection of essays and reminiscences, topped off with some brief fiction, is a pleasant blast of ’40s and ’50s nostalgia.
Retired broker Bowhay has been writing for his local Monterey paper for a while; When the Lord Spoke collects his columns and then some. The first two sections, “Growing Up” and “Commentary,” are ostensibly split between reminiscences on growing up in California’s Pacific Grove area and musings on the present day there, but both are stuck in the post-war era, when the author was coming of age. Not that this a bad thing: in amiable, casual prose over essays that rarely cross the two-page mark, Bowhay builds an admirably detailed composite portrait of his boyhood during World War II and a coming-of-age full of pleasurably conflicted sexual awakening. The author picks up on the ephemera of his childhood the same way millennial kids fixate on ’80s corniness, wondering whatever happened to “pocketknives, Mumbelty Peg, and tops.” Only occasionally does he slip into cranky-old-man territory, as when decrying modern women’s preference for wearing jeans instead of skirts: “ladies, for the sake of your country…take that rebate check and buy a dress or skirt.” Otherwise, Bowhay sticks to what he knows, building a warm portrait of a California community where shooting fresh meat for dinner was the norm, kids could find high school jobs at the local hotels and youthful sexual encounters never hurt anyone too badly. A smattering of short stories have much the same feel, and some wan verse on the last page is too brief to do any real harm. The title is a bit misleading–it refers to the foghorn blast that would go off down by the bay, scaring necking couples into thinking God was judging their tentative fumblings. The author’s worldview recommends religion, but being devout is in no way a precondition for enjoying the collection.
Lightly likable and none-too-substantive, but pleasant and nostalgic for the demographically similar.Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4392-0333-0
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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 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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