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I’M BACK FOR MORE CASH

Name: I’M BACK FOR MORE CASH
Author: Tony Kornheiser
ISBN: 0-375-50754-X

A TONY KORNHEISER COLLECTION (BECAUSE YOU CAN’T TAKE TWO HUNDRED NEWSPAPERS INTO THE BATHROOM)

by Tony Kornheiser ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2002

In bites of a thousand words or less, Kornheiser offers happenin’ zingers from the turn of the century, complete with rim...

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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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.