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DEAR FOLKS

Name: DEAR FOLKS
Author: Richard Leighton
ISBN: 978-1-63524-381-9

A MEMOIR FROM 500 LETTERS

by Richard Leighton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 5, 2016

A charming epistolary recounting but one that may have a limited audience.

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A debut memoir in letters that covers more than four decades of correspondence and recollections.

Leighton was a prolific letter writer, exchanging hundreds with his mother and father starting in the 1940s. In the newly written letters to friends and relatives collected here, he draws on these older missives, as well as others that he wrote to his wife in the ’50s during their engagement and to his daughter, Kim, when she traveled overseas in the ’70s and ’80s—a sum total of 501 letters (despite the book’s subtitle). From these scattered sources, a surprisingly clear chronology surfaces in this book, chronicling a life of rich personal and professional pursuits. The author was born in western Maryland and largely grew up across the street from a Methodist church. He attended nearby Western Maryland College and earned an M.D. from the University of Maryland before becoming a Navy lieutenant and flight surgeon, which allowed him to travel widely in Asia. He eventually became an academic and rose to the level of dean at the Medical College of Ohio. Leighton’s story also covers his travels with his wife before she died from melanoma in 2009. The author’s unwavering devotion to his family shines through in every letter, and his desire to preserve and communicate its history is endearing and admirable. However, the assemblage of letters here can be confusing at times, as it’s not always clear how the recipients are precisely related to the author. Also, they chronicle an exhaustive but personally idiosyncratic tale that likely won’t appeal to those who don’t already know the author well. Leighton’s prose is clear, if mechanical, and the letters generally follow a repetitive formula, beginning with the same introduction: “I’m writing to you….” As a result, this memoir is sure to be cherished by the author’s family members, but it doesn’t strike a more universal chord.

A charming epistolary recounting but one that may have a limited audience.

Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-63524-381-9

Page Count: -

Publisher: LitFire Publishing

Review Posted Online: April 26, 2017

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

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.