A well-written, highly informative book for devotees of the modern art world.
A massive dual biography of Dominique and John de Menil, who did not strive for the limelight but still helped to lead the modern art movement in the United States.
Veteran journalist and editor Middleton spares no details in this history of the French couple who made Houston their home and converted it to a center of the arts. John (1904-1973) and Dominique (1908-1997) collected modern artists such as Magritte and Picasso as well as art from Africa and South America, Byzantine art, and antiquities. The art in their Houston museum is presented simply and with little historical explanation, allowing visitors to become a great part of the experience. Throughout their collecting careers, the de Menils were not afraid to spend their money; in fact, they felt a moral imperative to give back of their fortune. A significant figure in the couple’s maturation was Father Marie-Alaine Couturier, a Dominican priest committed to modern art who was largely responsible for educating the de Menils on the joy of art. In addition to collecting, they built, favoring architect Philip Johnson for their house in Houston, which became a frequent stop for art lovers. Also in Houston is the Rothko Chapel, which contains 14 murals commissioned by the de Menils and Barnett Newman’s Broken Obelisk out front. They were also leaders in African-American shows, including the 1971 De Luxe Show in an old theater. Dominique also headed the exhibitions at the Institute for the Arts at Rice University. Dominique’s style may have been simplicity itself, but she detested small talk and was imperious, authoritarian, and demanding—though also inarguably articulate and deeply committed to her work. John, too, dedicated himself to his work and was often separated from family. As Middleton amply shows, they were devoted to each other and to art, an exclusive partnership. For lovers of modern art, this book will be a treat, while general readers may find themselves skimming some of the 800 pages.
A well-written, highly informative book for devotees of the modern art world.Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-375-41543-2
Page Count: 800
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular...
A neurosurgeon with a passion for literature tragically finds his perfect subject after his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.
Writing isn’t brain surgery, but it’s rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former. Searching for meaning and purpose in his life, Kalanithi pursued a doctorate in literature and had felt certain that he wouldn’t enter the field of medicine, in which his father and other members of his family excelled. “But I couldn’t let go of the question,” he writes, after realizing that his goals “didn’t quite fit in an English department.” “Where did biology, morality, literature and philosophy intersect?” So he decided to set aside his doctoral dissertation and belatedly prepare for medical school, which “would allow me a chance to find answers that are not in books, to find a different sort of sublime, to forge relationships with the suffering, and to keep following the question of what makes human life meaningful, even in the face of death and decay.” The author’s empathy undoubtedly made him an exceptional doctor, and the precision of his prose—as well as the moral purpose underscoring it—suggests that he could have written a good book on any subject he chose. Part of what makes this book so essential is the fact that it was written under a death sentence following the diagnosis that upended his life, just as he was preparing to end his residency and attract offers at the top of his profession. Kalanithi learned he might have 10 years to live or perhaps five. Should he return to neurosurgery (he could and did), or should he write (he also did)? Should he and his wife have a baby? They did, eight months before he died, which was less than two years after the original diagnosis. “The fact of death is unsettling,” he understates. “Yet there is no other way to live.”
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8129-8840-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
PERSPECTIVES
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
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