bookshelf

THE HABIT

Name: THE HABIT
Author: Susan Morse
ISBN: 978-1-4532-2290-4

by Susan Morse ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 8, 2011

A lively testament to a complicated though loving mother-daughter relationship.

bookshelf

A page-turning, humorous account of one woman’s experience during her difficult mother’s turbulent journey into old age.

When the author’s father died, Morse convinced her mother that moving closer to family would be a wise decision. This began “Operation Ma,” and the author became the “self-appointed CEO/CFO of Op Ma: a series of maneuvers we siblings design as we go, to make our mother’s years as a widow (left with suddenly limited resources and risky ideas) as comfortable and safe as possible.” Morse’s role as caretaker was complicated by her own daily needs as a mother of three teenagers and wife of actor David Morse. Not merely a rosy-cheeked grandmother, the author’s mother was highly unconventional: “Ma’s voracious intellectual curiosity and zest for living has taken her down many interesting paths,” writes Morse. Always searching for answers to life’s big questions, Ma’s short list of obsessions included Roman Catholicism, astrology, the Montessori method, transcendental meditation, Silva Mind Control, health food, vitamins, full-spectrum lights and Reiki. Pushy and determined, she inevitably dragged her family along through her exploration of new realms. Morse begins her memoir on the day when her 85-year-old mother became an Orthodox Christian nun, and moves the story along by jumping back in time and filling in with family history. The author analyzes why as a child she assumed the role of caretaker within the family, and she examines her family life a father who drank and gambled too much and a strong-willed, kooky mother.

A lively testament to a complicated though loving mother-daughter relationship.

Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2011

ISBN: 978-1-4532-2290-4

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media

Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

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

bookshelf

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

bookshelf

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.