The literary equivalent of an enjoyable but ephemeral three-minute pop tune.
Sing, sing a song. Make it simple to last a whole book long.
The first-person journalistic quest narrative has become quite the rage, the most recent noteworthy example being A.J. Jacobs’s The Year of Living Biblically (2007). London music journalist Hodgkinson (Guitar Man: A Six-String Odyssey, or, You Love that Guitar More Than You Love Me, 2006) had a simple goal: learn how to write a competent pop song, then cut it as a single. The stumbling composer’s first effort was iffy: “Mystery Fox / Get out of your box / It’s time for me / To chase you up that tree, o mystery fox.” (Yikes.) Quickly realizing that he didn’t have it in him to come up with the goods alone, he enlisted the help of his talented but goofy friend Lawrence, as well as talented but not goofy musicians such as Keith Richards, Ray Davies, Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) and Hal David (Burt Bacharach’s songwriting partner). Hodgkinson accomplished his simple mission, but he didn’t exactly become a rock star in the process. The self-effacing, gently humorous attitude on display here was a wise choice; taking his pursuit too seriously would have made the narrative little more than a series of music lessons. Unfortunately, as is the case with many of these “in search of” projects, the quest becomes tiresome about two-thirds of the way through. A ruthless editor might have turned this into a true winner—as it is, it’s merely a pleasant diversion.
The literary equivalent of an enjoyable but ephemeral three-minute pop tune.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-306-81581-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Da Capo
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
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
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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