The 50-year-old Baby Boomers are coming! Eleven thousand a day, one every seven-and-a-half seconds for the next decade, they will reach that midlife landmark. Having done so himself, CBS commentator Geist (Monster Trucks and Hair-in-a-Can, 1994, etc.) offers his take on the apparently unexpected phenomenon of growing older. It's the startling receipt of an AARP membership card that initiates the author's comical ruminations about his condition. He covers aging—the humorist's classic material—in something life 50 short checklists and brief essays. Among Geist's complaints: He's contracted CRS, or ``Can't Remember Shit'' (his case seems confirmed by the repetition of a few favorite gags). He wants to wear a name tag for his own edification. His bawdy reportage segues to narcoleptic parties, maturing kids, health spas, trifocals, the music of John Tesh, incontinence, and the grand opening of a funeral home (where guests nibbled on finger sandwiches ``from the caterer, not the back room''). With particular attention to urology and his (or anybody's) libido, Geist seems to aspire to the post of Dirty Old Man, which is okay if it's funny. Happily, most of the time it is, with just an occasional lapse. Make what you will of his sex advisory: ``Just Keep It to Yourself. At this point why drag others into this ugly business?'' For the ladies, he has a few comments on Premarin and the fitting of fiftysomethings into bathing suits. Geist, of course, has an attitude: Gail Sheehy, he has concluded, is full of that stuff he can't remember (see ``CRS''). He covers his subject with an acerbic wit that occasionally calls for a large dose of Maalox. If the AARP card so affected Geist's spirit, what will happen when his Medicare card comes 'round? Still, this is way funnier than Modern Maturity.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-688-15077-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1997
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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