A full-length extension of profile material which appeared in the New Yorker and which concerns Colonel Stingo, the nom de plume of a grandiose old gaffer ne James A. Macdonald. The Colonel, who believed that "fortune swims... in the shallows where the suckers moon", never found his pot of gold but lived a life of dubious enterprise and high aquavital content. His experiences, as a rain-maker and keeper-away, as a hog caller, as a reporter back in New Orleans where he came from- and as a columnist on New York's only Sunday afternoon paper, and his florid memories of the turf of tipsters and touts and socialites- are expressed in his own idiom- which is peculiarly his own...A character- who in his exuberance of speech- a formal rhetoric touch-off by rummy phrases- is reminiscent of W.C. Fields, but his many "labyrinthine digressions" may prove— labyrinthine.
Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 1872180434
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1953
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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