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FOR THE LOVE OF A DOG

Name: FOR THE LOVE OF A DOG
Author: Rose Elisabeth
ISBN: 0-609-60692-1

A MEMOIR

by Rose Elisabeth ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2001

A heartfelt tribute to animals and their extraordinary ability to love, learn, and teach.

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A memoir by novelist Rose (Body Sharer’s, 1993) of the dogs she has known and loved—a celebration both of the animals themselves and of the lessons she learned from them.

As a child, Rose’s religious faith was shaken when the minister at her church told her that animals had no souls—an attitude that seemed to mock the love she felt for her fox terrier, Patches. A neighborhood character, Patches was only interested in Rose if she was “doing something new with her like teaching her to climb trees.” A deeply religious and thoughtful child, Rose felt she couldn’t love a God who didn’t love all creation, and her spiritual journey (she eventually became a Catholic) intensified after her marriage, when she and her husband acquired a border collie they named Kierney. Extremely high-strung and emotionally dependent on Rose, Kierney was also remarkably intelligent. She had a “vocabulary” of about 130 words (e.g., when told that her ball was in the bedroom, she’d head there directly), but she remained extremely insecure. She bit strangers and even attacked Rose (who was pregnant at the time). Worried, Rose took Kierney to a notoriously harsh obedience class, and for a while thereafter everything seemed okay. Six months after Rose’s daughter was born, however, Kierney began to experience epileptic seizures with increasing frequency, and barely two years later she died in Rose’s arms at the vet’s office. The finality of her death made Rose question the meaning of life even more, as she felt the “wind of universal malevolence.” Eventually, however, she acquired two other border collies, who also had a remarkable knack for understanding human speech. The author goes so far as to conclude that language itself may be God, insofar as it enables us to break down the bonds of individuality.

A heartfelt tribute to animals and their extraordinary ability to love, learn, and teach.

Pub Date: July 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-609-60692-1

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Harmony

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2001

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.