A collection of poet Goldbarth’s (Jan. 31, 1974, etc.) previously published essays which burst into the black night like an explosion of firecrackers: eruptions of color and jazz riffs of language that ultimately fade to nothing. Moments of pure brilliance punctuate these ten essays, each a tribute and a rhapsody to the questions and conditions of being human. Sometimes Goldbarth’s language is so right, so exact, with the English language at its most scintillating, sharp, and lapidary. The whole effect, though, of these pastiches becomes the vicarious, voyeuristic, and empty pleasure of witnessing the author’s masturbatory revels: oh, how he impresses himself (and you, too, dear reader!) with his stratospheric lexicon and compendium of fascinating trivia. His erudition is unquestionable (as attested by his encyclopedic knowledge of comic book villains, all fictional characters who happen to be green, and his laundry list of important events of 1913), but the mishmash which results from this eclectic collection of trivia only blinds and hides the moments of humanity and compassion which should be the book’s core. Essays which probe the nature of time and memory, the fractured essence of identity, and the real potential for human obsolescence become mired in the extended conceits he draws about them: the whirlwinds of details and trivia surrounding his metaphors eventually overcome the real subjects of the essays. The end result stands, not as an investigation into the human condition, but paradoxically, as a shield against it. If heady wordplay and postmodern pastiche were sufficient ingredients for meaningful existential enquiry, these essays would stand as monumental achievements; unfortunately, they are limp and lifeless lumps drowned in their own syrup of superficiality.
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8203-2126-5
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Univ. of Georgia
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
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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