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FAMILY BUSINESS

Name: FAMILY BUSINESS
Author: Allen Ginsberg
ISBN: 1-58234-107-9

SELECTED LETTERS BETWEEN A FATHER AND SON

by Allen Ginsberg & Louis Ginsberg & edited by Michael Schumacher ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2001

An eloquent, affecting collection that offers lessons in poetry, in love, and in family.

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A surprisingly poignant selection of letters between Beat Generation poet-guru Allen Ginsberg and his father, Louis, a career English teacher and an accomplished poet himself.

Schumacher (Francis Ford Coppola, 1999, etc.) published a biography of the younger Ginsberg in 1992 (Dharma Lion) and first approached him about this letters project at that time. Schumacher’s thorough, amiable introduction sets the stage for the remarkable father-son performance that follows (Schumacher does not disappear, but like any other good editor he remains unobtrusive, emerging only to offer the occasional clarification). The letters begin in the mid-1940s. Allen matriculated at Columbia Univ. when he was 17 and displayed all the odious symptoms of the adolescent-away-from-home syndrome. Louis did not hesitate to chide his son (“You are developed intellectually; but, emotionally, you lag”), but what overwhelms throughout is the adamantine bond of affection that connected the two. When in 1947, for example, Allen wrote to say he had signed on as a common sailor aboard a ship bound for Dakar, Louis replied with love rather than disappointment: “It’s O.K. Lots of luck to you, Allen.” In 1948, Louis was shocked to discover that his son was gay, but soon embraced his male lovers without prejudice. When Allen’s classic poem “Howl” appeared, Louis was ecstatic about his son’s success, comparing him to Whitman. Throughout his years of celebrity, Allen remained devoted to his father, writing regularly from the far reaches of the globe (he once sent him some clover from Shelley’s grave). Both commented freely on the work of the other—Louis was always troubled by Allen’s “dirty, ugly words”; Allen continually urged his father to be less conventional. In later years they did popular joint readings, while they argued about Cuba, Communism, Vietnam, the Black Panthers, Israelis and Arabs, and Watergate. Louis died in 1976, and when Allen died 21 years later, some of his ashes were buried in his father’s grave.

An eloquent, affecting collection that offers lessons in poetry, in love, and in family.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001

ISBN: 1-58234-107-9

Page Count: 416

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2001

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FALL OF AMERICA JOURNALS, 1965–1971
by Allen Ginsberg ; edited by Michael Schumacher

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BEST MINDS OF MY GENERATION
by Allen Ginsberg edited by Bill Morgan

- BOOK REVIEW
I GREET YOU AT THE BEGINNING OF A GREAT CAREER
by Lawrence Ferlinghetti & Allen Ginsberg ; edited by Bill Morgan

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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.