by Ron Seybold ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2019
A beautifully stirring reflection on the joys and challenges of fatherhood.
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A writer recounts a summer trip with his young son and his shot at redemption.
In 1994, Seybold (Viral Times, 2015) organized an epic trek for himself and his 11-year-old son, Nicky. They would attend nine baseball games in eight different cities over the course of just 11 days, an expedition spanning more than 3,400 miles. It was a complex odyssey to plan during “a time without the Web, Wi-Fi, or phones that rang in our pockets” and so tightly scheduled it was unnervingly vulnerable to derailment. But for the author, divorced with only limited custody of his son, the vacation was brimming with symbolic meaning, a chance to establish himself as a worthy father. Seybold grew up terrorized by his own father’s mercurial rage, an ungovernable fury that could erupt into violence. The author struggled to escape from his father’s mistakes, but a toxic brew of anxiety and depression led him to repeat them instead, a pattern that ended his marriage. In tenderly poignant terms, he describes his excursion with Nicky, including his victories (keeping his cool when the boy’s television viewing delayed a departure) and foibles (picking a cheap but unsavory hotel). Seybold also recounts his experiences with his own dad, a talented but desperately insecure man who ultimately committed suicide. Thoughts of his father flooded the author’s mind as he visited his old neighborhood in Toledo, Ohio. The memoir seamlessly tracks three storylines: Seybold’s upbringing, his failed marriage, and the journey, all of which seem to find a narrative confluence in the last two games he and Nicky attended at Wrigley Field. The author’s remembrance is a profoundly touching one, especially given his forthcoming candor and willingness to dispense self-criticism. The writing is always lucid and can be moving, although Seybold occasionally succumbs to the charms of saccharine sentimentality: “By keeping my summertime pitches across the plate of Nicky’s heart, I was righting my wrongs and forgiving my sins.” Still, the story is much more often than not wise and affecting, ably capturing the excitement of live baseball.
A beautifully stirring reflection on the joys and challenges of fatherhood.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-9850067-3-0
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Skin Horse Press
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
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
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
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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