An unevenly written but comforting book of spiritual affirmations.
CassanoLochman (The Man with the Sand Dollar Face, 2017, etc.) offers inspiration with a lyrical bent in this collection of short essays.
Everyone needs an occasional pick-me-up, and that’s precisely what the author seeks to provide with this collection of 147 inspirational shorts, the first in a trilogy. In each piece, she aims to lift readers from a place of doubt and set them on a path to gratitude and joy. Addressing the reader as “my friend,” CassanoLochman weaves a web of poetic language meant to encourage, soothe, and celebrate, as in the piece “Toil Happily / Seriousness with Moderation”: “My friend, slow down, take a breath. Important it is to allow for lazy days of play and misspelled words.” Some pieces address particular troubles, such as “Memories Cycled / Forgiveness” or “Blanket of Light / Depths of Depression”: “Depression is the equalizer. Souls taken hostage regardless of social or ethnic status. Slithering forth hidden under the cloak of fear.” Many assert the necessity of embracing the love of God: “My friend, the angst you feel is separation from God’s love.” Despite the title, CassanoLochman’s writings take the form of prose, not verse, although they do contain a number of poetic elements, including fragmentary sentences and figurative imagery: “I witnessed the tragedy. Heartbroken was I. For you stopped midstream. Your heart raced happily with words straining to flee. But fear of those near silenced your song.” Some tend to be rather abstract and clichéd, offering advice that feels vague and untethered from everyday life. Furthermore, the author has a fondness for placing verbs at the end of clauses, giving the prose an odd, Yoda-like syntax at times. Still, many of these pieces have a calming effect, as though someone is whispering in one’s ear with a soft, even voice. Although the concept of God is central to the project, the author doesn’t delve into any particular dogma, allowing for audiences of various faith traditions.
An unevenly written but comforting book of spiritual affirmations.Pub Date: Jan. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-944878-80-1
Page Count: 171
Publisher: Ontario Shore Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
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
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