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I AM A TOWN

Name: I AM A TOWN
Author: Shari Smith
ISBN: 978-1940595108

by Shari Smith ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 28, 2014

A mixture of powerful emotion and Southern lift, best in small doses.

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Small-town life is larger than life in this collection of short, true stories detailing the triumphs, foibles, and everyday eccentricities of Claremont, North Carolina.

Smith (The Shoe Burnin’ Stories of Southern Soul, 2013) confesses to being anti-social when she first moved to Claremont, not wanting to leave her house or talk to the neighbors, let alone get involved in committees and activities. But as the stories in the collection unfold, she reveals how she slowly—and somehow, all of a sudden—became a part of the community and grew to deeply love Claremont and its people. Stories run the gamut from musings on her father never teaching her to shoot to town drunks to the friendships between women to what it feels like to have a house burn down. There’s a lot here, and some stories, being small, personal slices of life, can start to feel unnecessary, as when Smith muses about marijuana for the three-page “King of the Wild Frontier” or repeatedly drops names in “Growing Up in Privilege”—not the first or the last instance in the collection. Not including the prologue, there are 45 stories, so the text occasionally veers dangerously into the land of repetition as it fixates on themes of friendship, writing, and how wonderful the town is. However, there are also some real standouts. In “About Peace,” Smith explores death and how people come to terms with it, as well as the reasons for violence and why people fight in wars. In “Matthew,” she summons heartbreaking emotion for the story of the death of one of her son’s friends, while in “Twenty-five Minutes,” she shows her gift for conveying character and the tragedy of time passing. “Food,” another excellent piece, offers up the author’s own passion for trying new things as a metaphor for creativity and the need for a steady diet of inspiration, plaintively trying to hang onto the old while exploring the new.

A mixture of powerful emotion and Southern lift, best in small doses.

Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2014

ISBN: 978-1940595108

Page Count: 268

Publisher: River's Edge Media, LLC

Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2015

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

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.