Quirky reflections on a writer’s unusual conflicts make for a quick and amusing read.
An arch essay collection about the ups and downs of the writing life.
Now 10 books into his career, Orcutt (The Ronald and Other Plays, 2017, etc.) has accumulated a rich reservoir of experiences and insights into the writing process. He shares these in his first memoir, a lighthearted collection of amusing anecdotes and reflections on his way of working. Several of the experiences will be familiar to readers—a young romance, an uncomfortable doctor’s visit, a return to old stomping grounds. Others, like the author’s visit to a Thomas Kinkade exhibit or an infestation of ladybugs, run further afield. Many of these essays are platforms for Orcutt to reflect on his inspirations for writing, from people he’s met to philosophy classes he took in college. Whether he’s exploring the extraordinary or the everyday, the narrator’s personality is apparent throughout—he doesn’t back down from an argument. He is the kind of person who tells people to be quiet in movie theaters, the one who rebukes strangers for not tipping their waitresses: “Why am I always the one who has to speak up?” It’s obvious to readers that Orcutt thrives on confrontation. But if his personality is combative, his prose is the opposite. Orcutt’s writing style is lighthearted and conversational, and he treats arguments with an easy humor. In the essay “Absentminded,” for example, in which Orcutt moves swiftly through a variety of encounters in which he benefited from his own forgetfulness, an abundance of rhetorical charm compensates for a lack of thematic depth. Whether or not readers agree with Orcutt’s life choices, they are sure to find him a vibrant character and enjoyable writer.
Quirky reflections on a writer’s unusual conflicts make for a quick and amusing read.Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9962783-7-9
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Have Pen, Will Travel
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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