Superb collection of Garbo photos along with a running monologue by Garbo—taken down by Daum (curator of the Gloria Swanson Archives at the Univ. of Texas, Austin)—and with a text by Muse (a Life magazine editor) that covers her history. Muse's is by far the livelier of the two alternating texts, for Garbo couldn't talk her way out of a hatbox. Though a certain charm does shine through, she is completely vacuous and focused on her sensations. That's disappointing, but it doesn't matter—or shrink her glorious image on page after page or her accomplishments in film after film. What matters for Garbo lovers is that this is a marvelous sheaf of Garbolatry, eyes that smolder with nymphal adolescence (photographed by Arnold Benthe), eyes that suggest the great romance of your life. And then Garbo speaks: ``There are clothes in my closet that are fifty years old. I wear the same old things. Some days around here, you've never seen anything like it- -I'm in my long underwear. I go in and out of the kitchen and say to my girl, `In case you're wondering, just pretend that I've joined the circus.' '' Or, ``I was thinking maybe I should get a new color scheme in here—I mean for the telephones. I only have black telephones. That'll keep me awake at night, trying to decide the color scheme. I do so little telephoning it really doesn't matter. Sometimes I don't call anyone for weeks...I don't answer the phone.'' The historical text is delightful, a delicious review of the public Garbo, but hasn't one new fact. What does come through is a sensuality from Garbo's early years as a vamp that gives a hectic undertone to her later coolness. No pix of the goddess's last years—just pure beauty. A nice way to go. (Seventy-five b&w photographs.)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-06-016492-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1991
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
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