THE JOYS OF AFRICAN SEX, JOKES, COURTESIES, AND IDIOSYNCRACIES

Name: THE JOYS OF AFRICAN SEX, JOKES, COURTESIES, AND IDIOSYNCRACIES
Author: Boniface Ndemping Wewe
ISBN: 0-9671238-5-2

by Boniface Ndemping Wewe ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 5, 2004

Wewe is quick on his feet–he will never be accused of windiness–and he knows when to deploy humor and when to jab a sharp...

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A beguiling little collection of bon mots, chidings, lampoonery and entertainments related to sub-Saharan Africa.

Right from start–with the title, a comical salute to The Joys of Sex, "one of the most popular books in public libraries in the USA"–Wewe, a Cameroonian now working as a librarian in Brooklyn, has a high time poking fun, paying respect and excoriating various elements of the contemporary African scene. His comments are short and to the point, at times "politically incorrect," he admits, but at others pointedly astute, and they come at the reader like bats out of a cave: fast, swarming, without the pretense of order, but rather like a Guinness Book of World Records of Wewe's fixations and bÃªte noires. He throws off one-liners like a stand-up comic–"There is rampant poverty among the people but they are renowned for coping with it, given the low cost of living"–then gets down to brass tacks about how to tell a fake traditional doctor from a genuine sangoma. He cracks wise on the topic of sex ("Sex Glossary for Africans: Dick is a name but we should also know that it means penis"), then gets serious about the denial of AIDS by a number of African governments, in addition to the grotesquery of genital mutilation, or the absurd hedonistic pursuits of Swazi's King Mswati. He also uses broad satire to ridicule the behavior of officials–as when the late strongman of the Ivory Coast, Robert Guei, quarantined the national soccer team after they lost a tournament–or he will simply point out the venality of a Bokassa, Abacha, Moi, Mobutu, Banda or Goodwill Zwekithini.

Wewe is quick on his feet–he will never be accused of windiness–and he knows when to deploy humor and when to jab a sharp stick in the eye.

Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2004

ISBN: 0-9671238-5-2

Page Count: -

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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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

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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.