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WHEREVER YOU GO, THERE THEY ARE

Name: WHEREVER YOU GO, THERE THEY ARE
Author: Annabelle Gurwitch
ISBN: 978-0-399-57488-7

STORIES ABOUT MY FAMILY YOU MIGHT RELATE TO

by Annabelle Gurwitch ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 18, 2017

Though frequently amusing, Gurwitch’s essays aim at easy targets and back off from complex thought.

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The latest collection of essays from the actress and author.

The ostensible connective theme for this diffuse volume is family, and Gurwitch (I See You Made an Effort: Compliments, Indignities, and Survival Stories from the Edge of 50, 2014, etc.) returns to her family of origin frequently, often lighting down just long enough to make a joke or tell an outrageous anecdote. Then she takes off on a stream-of-consciousness stroll that leads her nimbly away from dealing with stronger feelings. According to her frequently repeated stories, she grew up in a difficult environment, with a mother who often confined herself to her room and a father whose crooked business dealings made for frequent moves and even more frequent financial problems. However, rather than delving into the repercussions of this childhood, Gurwitch mostly tells jokes. A couple of the more affecting essays concern the author’s attempts to find an appropriate living situation for her sick and aging parents. She went so far as to move temporarily into the apartment next to theirs in a retirement community in Miami. More often, Gurwitch shies away from negative emotion in favor of humor at the expense of others. The formula of many of the essays is the same: the author briefly enters a new community, makes fun of it, and/or explores the political consequences of it on a superficial level. For example, she attended a weekend summer camp for adults, populated with campers with nicknames like “Huggy Bear” and “Popcorn”; unsurprisingly, she found it insufficiently ironic. She also went to a party for “a skin care company that rhymes with the words ‘far gone,’ ” and she uses this anecdote as a jumping-off point for criticizing multilevel marketing.

Though frequently amusing, Gurwitch’s essays aim at easy targets and back off from complex thought.

Pub Date: April 18, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-399-57488-7

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Blue Rider Press

Review Posted Online: March 1, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
YOU'RE LEAVING WHEN?
by Annabelle Gurwitch

- BOOK REVIEW
I SEE YOU MADE AN EFFORT
by Annabelle Gurwitch

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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.