A happy man goes looking for a happier place to live in this illuminating tour of North American byways. Veteran journalist Pindell (Last Train to Toronto, 1992, etc.) sets off from his longtime hometown of Keene, N.H., to see whether the American golden-age ideal of safe, community-minded, interesting towns and cities is only a dream in this explosive age of riot and disarray. He turns up slices of Eden in disparate places like Asheville, N.C.; Vancouver, British Columbia; Portland, Oreg.; and Minneapolis, Minn., towns and cities that combine a sense of civic duty with a live-and-let-live ethic, where neighborliness and personal freedom go hand in hand. Drawing on an admittedly idiosyncratic rating system that includes points for ``Cake'' (the availability of both natural and cultural amenities) and ``Cheers'' (the presence of inviting public places), he identifies several factors that define good places to live. Among them, he writes, are vital, ``renaissance'' downtowns with more pedestrians than cars; a healthy level of grass-roots community activism that keeps the political scene aswirl; and a ``strong gay, lesbian, or otherwise alternative lifestyle presence'' that brings to the fore what makes a place interesting: simple diversity. We lack an abundance of liveable places, Pindell offers, because our rootlessness propels us to seek adventure far from home and family. Those transient urges are, he admits, at the heart of his peripatetic book; as a self-styled philosopher he meets along the way tells him, ``Keene is a paradise for you. . . because you have been there so long, you are so settled there. You had a job, a family, local friends, and nothing to challenge your soul.'' Full of sharp observations, good reporting, and pleasant anecdotes, Pindell's book poses one such challenge to our souls: making our own imperfect hometowns better, more engaging places in which to live.
Pub Date: July 28, 1995
ISBN: 0-8050-2352-6
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
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
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