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
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
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
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