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AMERICAN PLACES

Name: AMERICAN PLACES
Author: William Zinsser
ISBN: 0-06-016638-X

A WRITER'S PILGRIMAGE TO 15 OF THIS COUNTRY'S MOST VISITED AND CHERISHED SITES

by William Zinsser ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 20, 1992

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Zinsser (Spring Training, 1988, etc.), who last year edited They Went, a collection of essays about travel writing, now offers a lively though not profound travelogue on 15 of America's geographic icons. This ``reporter's book about the ideas that shaped America'' takes in some of our most treasured sites, emblematic of America's impulse toward independence (Lexington and Concord) and resolve during war and peace (Appomattox, Pearl Harbor); its emphasis on self-improvement (Chautauqua); small-town nostalgia (Hannibal and Abilene); civil rights (Montgomery); and natural beauty (Niagara Falls and Yellowstone Park). Zinsser employs the same method in each profile: He offers a brief background history of the place, while eliciting from custodians of each site—curators, park rangers, librarians, town historians, and the like—their impressions of why people are drawn so insistently to these secular shrines. The author freely admits to being ``history-illiterate'' for too long, so his account has all the vices and virtues of innocence. On the one hand, he often notices the fresh and unusual detail, such as a letter at Mount Vernon that reveals George Washington's obsessive attention to household matters, even while leading the Continental Army. On the other hand, Zinsser lamentably fails to note that among the freedoms fought for at the Alamo was the ``right'' of the Texans to own slaves. The author is most intriguing when he snaps out of his dewy-eyed wonder, as in noting that Disneyland offers ``no shocks of nonrecognition'' or in passing on the stories told by the sites' custodians (at Concord, we learn, visitor-interest in Thoreau and Louisa May Alcott is rising, while the stocks of Hawthorne and Emerson are plummeting). A little heavy on the reverence, but, still, a fascinating take on ``the search for memory'' and how certain places have come to symbolize deep American principles.

Pub Date: May 20, 1992

ISBN: 0-06-016638-X

Page Count: 208

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1992

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.