Routine account of a groundbreaking expedition in the Great White Waste. Steger, who conquered the North Pole by dog sled a few years ago (North to the Pole, 1989), and Bowermaster (coauthor with Steger of Saving the Earth, 1990) try hard to make their tale of the 1989 Trans-Antarctica Expedition a gripper. The superlatives roll out: the first crossing of Antarctica by dog sled and ski, battling windchills of minus-65 degrees and 100-mile-per-hour winds, crossing the terrifying ``Zone of Inaccessibility,'' and so on. But despite these thrills, the story slogs along. The problem may lie in the expedition itself, which was masterfully organized and proceeded without major mishaps. A safe expedition makes a slow read. The six-man international crew (French, American, British, Russian, Chinese, Japanese) did its job with just the usual bickering frostbite. A man missing overnight, a dog stuck in a crevasse—such is the adventure for the armchair explorer, who winds up mulling over the explorers' menu (lots of Land O' Lakes cheese) and methods of garbage disposal (bag it up, fly it out). The US, which routinely cold-shoulders free-lance explorers arriving at its South Pole base, comes off as the heavy. It snows a lot. Everyone gets home safely. Indispensable for Antarctica buffs, but for real chilly thrills, try Shackleton or Scott. (Eight pages of color photographs and ten maps—not seen.)
Pub Date: Jan. 9, 1992
ISBN: 0-394-58714-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1991
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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