Engaging fluff, as Catholic priest and former Notre Dame president Hesburgh (God, Country, Notre Dame, 1990) spends his first year in retirement poking around the world. The title is obviously modeled on Steinbeck's Travels with Charley, and Hesburgh occasionally approaches the Nobel Prize winner's intoxicating on-the-open-road air of freedom, but never his psychological complexities. In fact, most of the characters here remain nothing more than names; this is even true of Hesburgh's rather invisible fellow traveler, Fr. Ned Joyce, former vice-president of Notre Dame. The fun comes in the traveling itself, which holds no surprises but moves swiftly from sight to sight. First the pair take an RV on a 12-week cruise out west. They concelebrate Mass each day; visit friends; marvel at the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Yellowstone. On a side flight to Alaska, the two fish for salmon and meet with bishops, professors, and Indians. Next stop is Latin America, where they dine with various national leaders, trap alligators in the Amazon, and wander the ruins of Machu Picchu. Here, the book briefly becomes more somber, as Hesburgh encounters survivors of Argentine political terror. After a short stop in New York for the Heisman Trophy dinner, it's all aboard the QE II as chaplains during a spin of the Caribbean, followed by an around-the-world cruise. Hesburgh reads Allan Bloom near the Panama Canal, chats with Ruby Keeler and George McGovern, finds Tahiti hot, India crowded, China awash in red tape (he's not strong on novel observations). Finally, the gung-ho travelers make it to Antarctica, where Hesburgh admires the penguins and argues, unsuccessfully, with a Polish bully who rejects his request to say Mass. Hesburgh justifies his lark with some words of encouragement to other retirees—few of whom could afford even a portion of these travels. This embarrassment aside, the excellent adventures of Ted & Ned prove a fine antidote to cabin fever.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-385-26681-2
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1992
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.
