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GOING WITH THE GRAIN

Name: GOING WITH THE GRAIN
Author: Susan Seligson
ISBN: 0-7432-0081-0

A WANDERING BREAD LOVER TAKES A BITE OUT OF LIFE

by Susan Seligson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2002

Energetic and certainly lively, but the jokey personal comments soon wear thin.

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Perky, contrived account of visits to the great bread-making cultures of the world—recipes included.

Children’s author and journalist Seligson (Amos Camps Out, 1992, etc.) is one of those writers who insist on giving themselves equal billing with their subjects, so there are many jarring asides. In Jordan, ostensibly to learn how Bedouins make their traditional flat bread, she exults that Omar, the hotel manager, likes her. In Ireland, staying at the famous Ballymaloe House, she fears that noted chef Myrtle might not like her (because Seligson is being snippy to some fellow Americans), but not to worry—once back home, she receives a sweet note saying how much Myrtle enjoyed meeting her. The author begins her travels in Fez, Morocco, where she is taken to visit the various bakeries in the teeming market place, observes families bringing their loaves to be baked each day in a communal oven, and learns that there are no female bakers, though women prepare the dough. In Saratoga Springs, New York, she visits with Michael London, who sells for $18 the five-pound pain au levain he bakes in a specially designed imported oven housed in an equally special bake house. She visits the “world’s largest bakery” in Biddeford, Maine, where Wonder Bread is produced and learns how to make soda bread in Ireland, matzo in Brooklyn, roti in India, and biscuits in Alabama. She also meets with scientists who are developing a bread that can survive combat conditions and still deliver a morale-boosting fresh taste to troops hunkered down in foxholes. Her least satisfactory encounter is with bakers in New Mexican pueblos who regard her as a trespasser. She concludes with an obligatory baguette in Paris. As the author describes the preparation and ingredients of the various breads, she adds a smattering of local history and bread lore to round out her personal impressions and experiences.

Energetic and certainly lively, but the jokey personal comments soon wear thin.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2002

ISBN: 0-7432-0081-0

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
STACKED
by Susan Seligson

- BOOK REVIEW
AMOS CAMPS OUT
by Susan Seligson & Howie Schneider & illustrated by Howie Schneider

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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.