BANDIT DREAMS & BEYOND

Name: BANDIT DREAMS & BEYOND
Author: Victoria Bolt
ISBN: 978-1-73402-795-2

by Victoria Bolt ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

A somewhat-scattered but engagingly nostalgic showbiz remembrance.

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Awards & Accolades

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Bolt’s debut memoir captures the life and loves of a woman who set off to Hollywood with a dream to meet Burt Reynolds and became a stuntwoman.

In Decatur, Illinois, “The Soybean Capital of the World,” a young Bolt struggled after her parents’ divorce. As she came of age, she began to learn how to take care of herself due to her father’s quick temper and her mother’s mental illness. While living with her dad and frequenting Decatur’s pubs alongside him, the junior high schooler became attracted to his adult friend Jerry. Bolt’s narration goes on to reflect her development from a sharp yet naïve child to a rebellious, stubborn teen. A high school dropout at 16, Bolt succeeded at driving solo to California with nothing but a borrowed Eagles eight-track tape, a giant stuffed frog, and $250 in her pocket. She worked the graveyard shift at a 7-Eleven to take advantage of opportunities as a movie extra during the day. Along the way, Bolt navigated the seedy world of auditions, headshots, and casting scams but ended up discovering a passion for stunts. Driven by a dream to star in a movie with movie star Reynolds, Bolt dexterously juggled her priorities while also figuring out where she stood when it came to her impassioned relationship with a married cop. In this debut memoir, Bolt offers a poignant, dynamic, and charming tale of love. As it rolls along, she offers anecdotes that may make some readers nostalgic for the Hollywood of decades past. At one point, she points out that her third grade teacher wrote on the girl’s report card, “Catches on slowly, but then understands well,” which will also likely apply to readers of the memoir, as paragraph by paragraph, the author’s narrative threads don’t seem to immediately and obviously tie together. But although her tales seem a tad disjointed at times, they do satisfyingly weave themselves together in the end. (Includes black-and-white and color family photos.)

A somewhat-scattered but engagingly nostalgic showbiz remembrance.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: 978-1-73402-795-2

Page Count: -

Publisher: Self

Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2020

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

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.