A mixed bag but with some exceptional, Pushcart-worthy pieces of observation and reportage.
Following his memoir of life in the African nation of Lesotho, Everything Lost Is Found Again, McGrath delivers this set of essays, several of which return there and to neighboring African countries.
Among the most compelling, if infuriating, is a sketch of imperious White mine operators who, years after the nation’s independence, continue to scorn the intelligence and work ethic of Africans. “Let’s see what happens when we go,” said one contractor. “This country would fall apart without us.” Another essay that exposes White privilege finds McGrath in a scarcely populated part of Namibia, where he ponders an iconic noose, with all its hints of racism and violence. The author enjoys a good mystery, and one beguiling piece is just that, involving the misadventures of an iPhone, lost in the Hamptons, that improbably landed in Yemen, a journey tracked by software. Not all of the pieces quite work—e.g., an essay that intercuts the murder of a homeless woman in Phoenix with a portrait of the Renaissance painter and general ne’er-do-well Caravaggio. The occasional misfire notwithstanding, McGrath frames most of his stories so invitingly that one can’t help but read on, as when he asks, “Why does one go to an Elvis Presley impersonator festival in the county of Simcoe, in the province of Ontario, in the country of Canada, on the planet of Earth?” Less lighthearted but beautifully written is a tour de force exploring a tangled friendship with a homeless Black man, dying of cancer, who ran afoul of the medical orthodoxy, in part by admitting that he would try to find crack upon being released from the hospital. McGrath asked a ward nurse, “So why should Willie have to die on your drugs instead of his drugs?” It’s another good question, one of many.
A mixed bag but with some exceptional, Pushcart-worthy pieces of observation and reportage.Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-950-53950-5
Page Count: 220
Publisher: Dzanc
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
