Reeves really doesn't like anybody very much. Assuredly, he wouldn't want his daughter to marry one of them: "The people are right. Politicians are a bunch of no-good, lying hypocrites." It's easy to see this breezy, sarcastic book as a flip exercise in negativism. But Reeves does throw out at least one interesting suggestion: the big "issue" shaping up in the '76 election is-Washington. Whoever can most convincingly dissociate himself from what Jimmy Carter calls the "Washington mess" will have a jump on the rest of the pack. Even Gerald Ford, whom Reeves effectively cut up in his first book (A Ford, Not A Lincoln, 1975), warns of the bureaucratic menace in the Capital during his stomps on the hustings. So. . . where do we stand? With Jackson, "religiously anti-Russian," friend of Boeing, Israel, and the SST? With Reagan, "a hell of a salesman, for 20 Mule Team Borax, General Electric, conservatism or himself?" Waiting for Godot, a.k.a. Teddy Kennedy? With Hubert Humphrey, the eternal candidate, campaigning since 1960? Reeves' book has been slapped together chiefly from magazine pieces, some going back to scan the '72 election, and he's candid about the fact that what with so many horses in the race, a reporter is "pretty much reduced to dealing in essential anecdotes." Not much depth here, but lots of anecdotes.
Pub Date: May 26, 1976
ISBN: 0060135263
Page Count: 264
Publisher: Harper & Row
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1976
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
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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