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HOW TO BE A MAN

Name: HOW TO BE A MAN
Author: Thomas Beller
ISBN: 0-393-32683-7

SCENES FROM A PROTRACTED CHILDHOOD

by Thomas Beller ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2005

The definition of light diversion.

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An episodic and hardly momentous account of growing into early middle age in New York City.

Beller (Before & After: Stories from New York, 2002, etc.) is a New York writer who really likes being a New York writer: this is ultimately the revelation of his latest collection. Ostensibly structured as a look into growing (or not growing) into adulthood, it’s really just a loose assemblage of Beller’s nonfiction pieces for various publications over the years. He has a winning voice that’s perfectly suited to a light magazine style, learned and self-deprecating (though not too much of either), enough of a regular guy in tone to seem approachable. The better pieces are about things, the tools of a man’s life. “Manhattan Ate My Car” is a funny reminiscence of the time Beller thought his ark-like 1977 Thunderbird—utterly unsuited for New York driving—had been stolen, launching into a city-wide car hunt only to find it weeks later a block away, where the city had moved it for blocking a parade route. Much passes in this very pleasant fashion, with some unsuccessful forays into talk of relationships. There are essays about the time that Beller tried to build an armoire for his girlfriend; his days as a drummer in a rock band; thoughts about why beloved T-shirts should never be worn in public; and a slightly more developed story about the struggling writer working at H&H Bagels. It’s great Sunday-afternoon material—Beller even worked as a bike messenger, a subject ever enthralling to urbanites. To say that it all doesn’t add up to much in the end would simply be unfair: this isn’t a book that wants to be meaningful, though it’s hardly trying to be pointless. The prose is well-crafted and smoothly delivered, and if a certain lassitude develops after reading too much of it at once, that’s because it was meant to be read in a more leisurely way, over, say, an H&H bagel and a coffee.

The definition of light diversion.

Pub Date: July 1, 2005

ISBN: 0-393-32683-7

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
J.D. SALINGER
by Thomas Beller

- BOOK REVIEW
BEFORE & AFTER
edited by Thomas Beller

- BOOK REVIEW
WITH LOVE AND SQUALOR
edited by Kip Kotzen & Thomas Beller

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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.