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KEEPERS

RADIO STORIES FROM ONLY A GAME AND ELSEWHERE

The well-known Boston-based National Public Radio host (Only a Game) slaps his quaint “ain’t sports funny” shtick between two covers, leaving readers, unlike listeners, unable to switch the station. Littlefield has carved out a niche for himself among sports-loving radio listeners for his amiable, sometimes achingly wry musings on the sporting world. This volume, comprised of essays, commentary, and excruciatingly corny verse, gives focus to the author’s gentle conceit that he and his listeners are somehow above the rank and file of fans who, owing to their blind lust for statistics, sporting memorabilia, and $175 sneakers, are somehow accountable for the decline of our civilization. Undoubtedly displaying a fine style, Littlefield’s writing, when divorced from his dulcet-toned radio voice, seems meandering. For instance, his take on how a pitched baseball seemingly defies the laws of nature (—a virtual staple in the baseball writer’s repertoire—) will only seem fresh to readers who seldom stray into the sports section of their local papers. But apparently that’s the point. To his credit, Littlefield offers lucid and moving odes to such heroes as the late tennis pioneer Arthur Ashe, Boston Celtics star Larry Bird, and the baseball hurler Nolan Ryan, as well as some evocative slice-of-life stuff about minor-league and amateur athletes, and his daughters’ soccer leagues. Nevertheless, these gems seem lost among such puffery as his ode to the Harvard-Yale game or his painfully unfunny football haikus. Contrary to modern myth, sports and high erudition are not mutually exclusive. Sportswriting like this only helps perpetuate that myth. This book will thrill Littlefield’s core of listeners; it will anger anyone who simply likes to play and watch games, rather than dwell on their greater cultural significance.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998

ISBN: 1-883684-14-8

Page Count: 248

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1998

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NUTCRACKER

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

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

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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