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A COTTAGE IN PORTUGAL

Name: A COTTAGE IN PORTUGAL
Author: Richard Hewitt
ISBN: 0-684-81313-0

by Richard Hewitt ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 4, 1996

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Another American-couple-moves-to-European-village-and- renovates-a-house book. Hewitt, a builder, jack-of-all-trades, and writer-type, and his wife, Barbara, an artist whose overcute drawings adorn the chapter openings, moved from rural Massachusetts to Portugal with the plan of earning their keep by buying and renovating an old house. Naturally, they are foiled at nearly every turn, encountering the usual combination of rustic hostility, inefficiency, benightedness, charm, warmth, and plain old poverty- stricken stupidity. The house is in Sintra, a small, remote resort city surrounded by fairy tale forests and populated by wily, short unindustrious natives and super-tanned, tall, unindustrious vacationers. Ultimately, of course, the house gets bought and hooked up to water; the renovations get done; the house gets sold; and the book gets written. Unfortunately, Hewitt's account of life in and around Sintra actually conveys little of the true character of either the distinctive natural landscape or the human look and sound. Although Hewitt uses the Peter Mayle model for his own book, his touch is inexpert, and he lacks both a real sense of humor and a knack for storytelling. Among other procedural problems, he inflates his own persona more than an author should, in effect laughing at his own, and his wife's, jokes—always a no-no. Of the genuinely funny bits (of which there mercifully are one or two), there is the time when Antonio, a building crew member, fails to show up for work because his ``mother was visiting from Switzerland.'' Hewitt is given the translation, ``Antonio was drinking kirsch.'' This has a superficial, describe-every-cup-of-coffee-and- glass-of-wine feel that offers little inspiration to prospective Portugal dwellers or dreamers.

Pub Date: March 4, 1996

ISBN: 0-684-81313-0

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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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.