Actress and stand-up comic Bernhard (Confessions of a Pretty Lady, 1988) acts up again with an occasionally recumbent but always ardent performance. Less cohesive than fervid, this collection of jottings contains autobiographical snippets, fictional sketches, and miscellany. Starting with a splash of petulant lesbianism and a lot of dreams, the text surveys the subject of love—all kinds of funky love, with puffy lips and swollen privates: AC/DC, cool and hot, bicoastal and bisexual. Bernhard's beat covers 2 Live Crew, Pucci, druggies, and the world capitals of London, Paris, and Las Vegas, and in between the naughty bits are sweet thoughts of family and friends. Readers who know the author only from her diluted—but still outrÇ—persona on TV's Roseanne may be shocked; the comedienne's longtime fans will take all this in stride, and with pleasure. The book is dedicated to Bernhard's grandmother. (First printing of 35,000)
Pub Date: Aug. 4, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-016615-0
Page Count: 176
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1993
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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