Earnest, likable account of the child TV star who was ``shamefully undersung'' as a grown-up rock star. When Rick Nelson's private plane burned and crashed in 1985, killing him, his fiancÇe, and members of his band, it was widely rumored that Nelson—then 45, and supposedly despondent at the decline of his music career—had accidentally started the fire while freebasing cocaine. Very unlikely, says Bashe (coauthor, That's Not All Folks!, 1988, etc.): Nelson, he argues, was a basically secure entertainer who did not need acceptance to remain happy. Nelson was born into a wealthy show-business family and made his TV debut at age seven on the phenomenally successful (1952-66) sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. That show, starring the real Nelson family, was masterminded by workaholic Ozzie—a benevolent despot who completely arranged his youngest son's life for him. By age 17, Nelson had started singing on the show and issuing records (``Poor Little Fool,'' ``A Teenager's Romance,'' etc.) that were snatched up by an estimated ten million teenage fans. His ``role in spreading the rock & roll gospel and his consummate musicality,'' says Bashe, ``remain glaringly overlooked.'' Many critics regarded Nelson as a cleaned-up, parentally sanctioned Elvis: ``An inspired fake,'' stated the Village Voice's Robert Christgau. In 1969, Nelson put together the Stone Canyon Band to feature his singing and songwriting, but for the remainder of his life, only one hit, ``Garden Party'' (1972), was forthcoming: The public refused to accept Rick Nelson and wanted only to see cute little Ricky singing his hits from the 50's. By his death, Nelson was playing 250 dates a year—many in suburban supper clubs and shabby steakhouses—to remain solvent. Fluidly told and thoroughly documented (including accounts of Nelson's prodigious love life): a singular and interesting biography. (Eight-page photo insert—not seen.)
Pub Date: May 8, 1992
ISBN: 1-56282-969-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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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