Atlantic Monthly managing editor Murphy gathers some three dozen of his essays, all but one written for the magazine and all displaying his considerable journalistic talents. As befits his varied rÇsumÇ (he is author of the text for the ``Prince Valiant'' comic strip and co-author of Rubbish! The Archaeology of Garbage, not reviewed), Murphy offers a kaleidoscopic variety of subject matter. Here are some thoughts about the practice of modern medical science, there a few comments about the art of government, here a consideration of the lore of eternal life, there some notions about the technology of sentencing criminals (which ``culminates in the computation of what might be thought of as Adjusted Gross Behavior. The sentencing table then reveals What You Owe''). Clearly the author draws much inspiration from his carefully eclectic reading of everything from the Commerce Business Daily Fund Raising Management, and How To Avoid, Prepare For, and Survive Being Taken Hostage (subject self-evident). But he's not always in the reading chair. Like Ernie Pyle or Joe Mitchell before him, Murphy often travels to garner his stylish aperáus. A lengthy piece on how a few of the Pope's men in far- flung posts are laboring to produce definitive editions of the works of St. Thomas is reported from Europe. Another observes the activities at a convention of ventriloquists—which is attended by a surprising number of fundamentalist Christians. An index (surely not a usual feature in a collection of essays) ranges from such entries as ``anthroponomastics, the study of human names'' to ``weddings, disjunction between participants and professionals at.'' Murphy's classy writing and eye for mundane curiosities keeps the art of the essay alive as a stimulant to the senses as well as the intellect.
Pub Date: Jan. 11, 1995
ISBN: 0-395-70099-X
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1994
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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