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THE ROOMMATES

Name: THE ROOMMATES
Author: Stephanie Wu
ISBN: 978-1-250-05145-5

TRUE TALES OF FRIENDSHIP, RIVALRY, ROMANCE, AND DISTURBINGLY CLOSE QUARTERS

edited by Stephanie Wu ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 5, 2014

A fun, quick read that pulls back the curtain on the dramas, joys and quirky memories of living with roommates.

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Town & Country editor Wu compiles a wide variety of tales about “an incredibly universal ritual that we can all relate to.”

At 27, the editor has shared living quarters with 20 roommates, and her curiosity surrounding the topic springs from the environments in which she has lived. In New York City, astronomical rents have forced young professionals and increasingly more members of the middle class to share housing—“the number of people residing in nonfamily households increased by more than 40 percent from 2000 to 2010. Throughout America’s biggest cities, rising rents and an increasing age of marriage have allowed people to embrace roommates long past college graduations and the early twenties.” The author separates the stories into the categories of Growing Pains, Freshman Year, Student Struggles, Adventures Abroad, Recent Grads and Young at Heart. The ages of the roommates range “from a non-relative newborn child to a seventysomething with a proclivity for nudity.” Technology has played its part in the situation, as well. Though a handful of the stories take place more than two decades ago, pre-Craigslist, many illustrate how social networks, smartphones and texting have made finding a roommate much easier. The collection covers a wide emotional range, from funny to poignant to bizarre. Wu includes recollections regarding creative bullies, an alcoholic genius, a suicide attempt, a recovering addict, a kleptomaniac, pot smokers, a passive- aggressive personality and a down-on-her-luck widow running an escort service out of her apartment. The living environments are just as varied, and they include a Mormon household, a former gang headquarters, a yacht, a vacation home and an RV.

A fun, quick read that pulls back the curtain on the dramas, joys and quirky memories of living with roommates.

Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-250-05145-5

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Picador

Review Posted Online: June 10, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014

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.