The author has done supremely well in the mystery category with books like Flying Finish. Blood Sport etc., and if those had an authentic air, this is the reason. It's the autobiography of a man who was stable-ized right from the start and ended wearing the Queen's silks in the Grand National steeplechase that was to become a National disaster. Both his grandfather and father were jockeys and superb trainers but it took Dick until the late age of twenty-five to get into his first race. This is a history of an era of hunts and shows and triumph and broken bones with wonderful detail from the weighing room with its attendant valets to the winners circle with its saliva tests for drugs. Mr. Francis takes you right into the jump with insiders' information on everything from courses to the horse's conformation. Then there's that climactic moment at the National with Francis on the Irish thoroughbred Devon Loch way ahead with fifty yards to the finish and the Queen Mother waiting for the triumph... and Devon Loch sits down... Previously dubbed "the man who didn't win the Grand National," Mr. Francis may change his epitaph — to "the bloke who writes those bloody good books.
Pub Date: Feb. 26, 1969
ISBN: 0330339028
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Harper & Row
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1969
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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