No serious political science here, but these tales of the aristocracy of politics and showbiz joined at the hip offer...
An Emmy-winning producer clearly demonstrates, in case you didn’t know, that politicians and performers share identical genetic codes.
Showbiz has increasingly been allied with politics, notes Schroeder (Journalism/ Northeastern Univ.). Franklin Roosevelt clearly enjoyed birthday tributes from Groucho Marx and Ginger Rogers, though he also favored Myrna Loy and Donald Duck. Later, JFK was famously partial to Marilyn Monroe, Gene Tierney, and (with brother-in-law Lawford’s aid) backlots-full of ingénues. Presley paid his bizarre visit to Nixon. Politicos took note of the Gipper, Murphy Brown, Wayne Newton, and Ozzy Osborne—sometimes understandably unsure which were fictional. Frank Sinatra, sometime pal to several presidents, seems to have played the White House as often as Vegas, especially during the Reagan administration. Comics, rappers, actors, instrumentalists, dancers, and generic show people have all done their thing for the chief executive in what are generally considered stressful gigs. Frequently, performers like John Wayne on the right hand or Eartha Kitt on the left ventured to advise the president. Sometimes their advice was even sought. Robert Montgomery supervised Eisenhower’s TV appearances. Producers Bill and Linda Thomason were longtime Friends of Bill. Consider Ambassador John Gavin, posted to Mexico perhaps because he was so handsome. It’s a symbiotic arrangement, like it or not. Ike was wary, and LBJ didn’t even like Bob Hope. The venue at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is now run by “perhaps the least culturally attuned chief executive in modern history”—but don’t discount a Top Gun aircraft carrier performance for presidential showmanship. More likely to read the trades, certainly, were Clinton, JFK, and Reagan, who played the role of his lifetime as president. Schroeder seems to have checked all the White House logs as well as the appropriate tabloids for his lively report.
No serious political science here, but these tales of the aristocracy of politics and showbiz joined at the hip offer enjoyable entertainment and star-studded pop culture.Pub Date: March 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-8133-4137-X
Page Count: 384
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2004
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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