In bites of a thousand words or less, Kornheiser offers happenin’ zingers from the turn of the century, complete with rim...
Sportscaster and Washington Post humorist Kornheiser (Bald As I Wanna Be, 1997) gathers columns that seem to exceed in number those gracing the Acropolis in its heyday.
And a couple of his jests date from that same heyday. (Bada-boom, bada-bing!) The author is a popular funster of the capital, where comedy is traditional, and here you’ll find some wit from inside the Beltway, but much recycled stuff relying on the usual raw material of the professional comic writer. There are his friends and family, including his late father, son Michael, daughter “sweet baboo Elizabeth,” friend Nancy, boss George, and a guy named Chip Muldoon. (Mrs. K is mentioned sparingly; for the most part, she seems quite content to stay out of it.) Tony discusses early-bird specials in Florida and the poor quality of TV meteorology in the environs of the District. He writes of class reunions, of his large midsection, and of his bald pate. There are guy things to consider, like golf clubs, his new Cadillac (a really old guy thing), the rotten state of air travel, and of course the wonderfulness of “boinking,” as the lapidary text frequently puts it. Such topics may be timeless, but there’s much ado about notables like Al Gore doing the macarena, Darva Conger and her bridegroom, Elián González and the fisherman, or Dennis Tito’s tour in the Mir spacecraft. Once hilarious, the material is now just lightly entertaining nostalgia. There are snappy references to long-canceled TV performers. Some good gags are repeated in later pieces. A little pruning would have helped. But let’s not cavil: the collection is often a hoot. Take the cash, Tony, and run.
In bites of a thousand words or less, Kornheiser offers happenin’ zingers from the turn of the century, complete with rim shots and all the brio of Henny Youngman.Pub Date: May 14, 2002
ISBN: 0-375-50754-X
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Villard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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
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