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DREAMING OUT LOUD

Name: DREAMING OUT LOUD
Author: Bruce Feiler
ISBN: 0-380-97578-5

GARTH BROOKS, WYNONNA JUDD, WADE HAYES, AND THE CHANGING FACE OF NASHVILLE

by Bruce Feiler ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 8, 1998

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A cleverly constructed look at how the country-music industry has changed some of its most important artists and how they have changed the industry. Feiler (Under the Big Top, 1995, etc.) covers the full range of the Nashville scene from the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Association Awards to issues such as racism and greed. Having separated the industry into parts, he uses three particularly influential entertainers—Garth Brooks, Wade Hayes, and Wynonna Judd—to show how recording artists affect, and in turn are affected by, some of the most significant aspects of the business. For instance, the importance of album cover photography is demonstrated through the experiences of the shy newcomer Hayes, who feels uncomfortable with both the posing process and with his sex-symbol status. When Feiler looks at concerts, he uses Brooks as his lens, showing a performer who, despite his enormous popularity, is fearful that his career could end at any moment. And inevitably, when Feiler addresses the subject of family, his focus turns to Wynonna, whose mother, Naomi, tried even in retirement to run every aspect of her daughter’s career and life. Feiler also writes about other artists and Nashville personalities—particularly those who have had a strong impact on the development of the music and the industry. There are sections on the death of Minnie Pearl and how the entire city turned out for her funeral, as well as portraits of such influential figures as Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings and of the gossip columnist Hazel Smith. Feiler pays a little too much attention to Brooks and not quite enough to Wynonna. Still, this is a charming read that will humanize Nashville and some of its most visible and influential inhabitants. (Author tour)

Pub Date: April 8, 1998

ISBN: 0-380-97578-5

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1998

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SEARCH
by Bruce Feiler

- BOOK REVIEW
LIFE IS IN THE TRANSITIONS
by Bruce Feiler

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FIRST LOVE STORY
by Bruce Feiler

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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.