by Rosanna Figna ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 26, 2011
A witty, deft compilation of curated observations.
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An exploration of the aphorism, a time-honored literary form that has delighted audiences for centuries.
In this slim collection of maxims, author Figna and annotator Bonini engage in a form of conversation with roots in the Socratic dialogues. Figna crafts remarks that oscillate between being sincere and tongue-in-cheek, and Bonini often responds with annotations that speak both to Figna and the reader. Although the volume is generally optimistic and affable, it’s punctuated with tart interludes of pointed cynicism, as when Figna revises a fairy tale: “Sleeping Beauty is a lady who got the dose of Valium wrong.” The adages range from the quixotic to the practical, the absurd to the serious, the personal to the political. At times, the two authors agree, but the exchanges are most thought-provoking when they diverge, as when Figna says that if she “could found cities, I would rebuild Sodom and Gomorrah,” and Bonini notes that she’d rebuild Alexandria. Bonini’s annotations often add a layer of humor to the discourse, and also explain references to authors, poets, philosophers, theorists and essayists—among them are Roland Barthes, Gertrude Stein, Arthur Rimbaud and Marcel Proust. Insights into the modern imagination abound, such as Figna’s droll twist on René Descartes’s most famous motto by substituting “coito”—Latin for “I mate”—for “cogito” in “Cogito, ergo sum” (“I think, therefore I am”). At times, the bons mots are so strange as to be indecipherable or so enigmatic that readers may become lost. On the whole, however, the collection reads like the intellectual diary of two writers whose combined cultural knowledge is as sharp as it is estimable.
A witty, deft compilation of curated observations.Pub Date: July 26, 2011
ISBN: 978-1456784287
Page Count: 60
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2014
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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