Tender reminiscences of an older man, sure to appeal to many.
Thoughtful reflections on the past and objects of the natural world.
The poems in Picciuto’s (Reunion with a Truant Pen, 1991) second collection shy away from grand pronouncements on the ways of the world and brash, predictable rhymes, choosing instead to capture quieter scenes with relatively affectless verse. Whether describing a pineapple, skiing down a favorite mountain trail or childhood loves, the author delivers his observations and reflections with the gentleness and humility of a local Wordsworth. As the volume’s title piece suggests, his interests center on liminal crossings–whispers, secrets, memories–in the physical world. In “Silently on My Roof,” he writes, “I’ve searched for realities so very faint and illusive / even though their garments are upon me never / have I been able to touch their hems, while / the stars and the moon pound silently on my roof,” impressing upon his audience the importance of art’s ability to address the human comprehension of beauty. But Picciuto also has lighter moments, as in “A Piedmont Christmas” or “Painting Mother,” in which he contrasts Arrangement in Gray and Black, the title of the painting more familiarly known as Whistler’s Mother, with titles he imagines would result from psychiatrists asking patients to paint and title portraits of their mothers–“Mom Hiding a Bottle of Dewars, / Mother Berating Daughter, Mother Searching My Dresser,” etc. The book’s variation in subject matter and slight gradations of tone make for a somewhat disjointed reading experience, but when taken individually, many of the poems stand amply on their merits. While a number of pieces point to the cyclical nature of existence and often express nostalgia for lost youth–“I still love my sons but I dearly miss my boys”–the hushed scenes are frequently moving.
Tender reminiscences of an older man, sure to appeal to many.Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4490-6118-0
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
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