Although Holden (Big Deal, 1990, etc.) in his subtitle promises some lip-smacking gossip, few readers will be shocked, while most will find consuming this overrich table of Oscar-lore like trying to swallow the dessert board on the QE II. Steadily entertaining, Holden's narrative history bulks itself out with the usual Oscar facts and figures, but differs from the leader in its field, Mason Wiley and Damien Bona's voluminous Inside Oscar (1987), by hewing to anecdote. Part of the wacky suspense that the author keeps up hangs from the temper of the country and of the Academy each year (say, toward British nominees), and from studying the predictables and past winning percentages in whatever voting category he talks about, although many readers already will have recalled the winners. Holden begins with the making of the statuette itself, taking us through every step of its casting and burnishing and laminating, with other choice information offered about its brass inscriptions, delivery anywhere in the world, etc. Regarding awards for artistic merit, one of the big thoughts that arises from this study of the 5,000- plus Oscar electorate is, as one (unnamed) director puts it: ``Institutions aren't the best judges of a work of art, just like the AcadÇmie des Beaux Arts rejected the Impressionists.'' Even better are Peter Bogdanovich's words after losing as Best Director to William Friedkin in 1971: ``The way I see it, there's only one place that does it right. Every year in Barcelona they give awards for poetry. The third prize is a silver rose. The second prize is a gold one. The first prize, the one for best poem of all, is a real rose.'' Brain-sogging, so bring digestif. (Over 100 b&w photographs- -not seen.)
Pub Date: March 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-671-70129-0
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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