Intelligent, witty and downright shameless: the Great Lakes for better or worse.
Idiosyncratic look at the culture of the Great Lakes, from Green Bay cheese-heads to Polish sailors.
Former Chicago Tribune columnist McClelland (Horseplayers: Life at the Track, 2005) hilariously recounts his three-month journey around the so-called “third coast.” Beginning at the Calumet River on Chicago’s industrial East Side, he tours a Russian cargo ship before heading out with the sailors to buy a pair of counterfeit Nikes and a few burritos. After stopping at a Michigan sports bar for Game Five of the 2005 NBA finals between the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs, the author next finds himself snapping pictures of incoming freighters with nerds who carry around copies of Know Your Boat as if it were the Bible. Part comedian, part historian, McClelland manages to convey a large amount of significant information while entertaining the reader. Traveling along Highway 61, a road made famous by Minnesota-born musician Robert Zimmerman (aka Bob Dylan), the author heads north into Ontario, where he stumbles dangerously close to stereotypical territory with tales from Canadian coffee chain Tim Horton’s and an interview with actor Steve Smith, the Great White North’s answer to Tim Taylor from Home Improvement. Nevertheless, McClelland displays an uncanny ability to educate the reader with vivid accounts from his travels. It seems that the culture he set out to find is an eccentric blend of dozens of other cultures. A local boy from Grand Beach, Mich., the author struts an extensive knowledge of the area that makes this a must for fans of travel literature.
Intelligent, witty and downright shameless: the Great Lakes for better or worse.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-55652-721-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
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
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
