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NO APPLAUSE--JUST THROW MONEY

Name: NO APPLAUSE--JUST THROW MONEY
Author: Trav S.D.
ISBN: 0-571-21192-5

THE BOOK THAT MADE VAUDEVILLE FAMOUS

by Trav S.D. ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 16, 2005

For fans, an astonishingly rich work of vaudeville itself.

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The history of vaudeville, root and branch, related by a modern-day player.

Many of the great names in American entertainment were baptized by fire on the vaudeville stage: a mythic place where shows could run for four hours and where it was kill-or-be-killed. Mae West, Al Jolson, the Marx Brothers, George Burns, Eddie Cantor, even the Three Stooges, honed their acts in front of audiences who had no compunction about throwing rotten vegetables if they didn’t like what they saw. Trav S.D. presents a dense, cultural history of vaudeville, from its post–Civil War beginnings as a “clean” alternative to contemporary theater (considered inappropriate for women and children) through its glory days in New York to its eventual absorption in the modern media of phonograph records, radio and television. The author, himself a current-day vaudevillian, also outlines the rebirth of the field in alternative circuses, burlesque nightclubs, even on the Muppet Show. This spices up the history with portraits of the muckety-mucks who ran the biz, legendary for their outsized personalities and indifference to the talent. And of course, he profiles the players themselves: singers, comedians, jugglers, dancers, animal acts, double-talkers, contortionists and anyone else who could hold the interest of the great unwashed for three or four minutes. The author gives a fascinating outline of how hard the players had to work; Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, for example, went through 20 or 30 pairs of shoes a year.

For fans, an astonishingly rich work of vaudeville itself.

Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2005

ISBN: 0-571-21192-5

Page Count: 432

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2005

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.