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TWO BY TWO

Name: TWO BY TWO
Author: Eve Babitz
ISBN: 0-684-83392-1

TANGO, TWO-STEP, AND THE L.A. NIGHT

by Eve Babitz ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 3, 1999

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Fiction writer Babitz (Black Swans, 1993) offers essays about her love for partner dance and the L.A. dance scene. Eve Babitz loves to dance. From tango, to Cajun, to West Coast Swing, she sees the magic inherent in the forms; like many other dance students, she works toward a form that she knows she will never attain. And she works hard’she originally wanted to call her book “I Went from Being a Wallflower to Dancing Every Night of the Week, After Only Nine Years of Dance Lessons.” Babitz continues to dance as much as she can, despite a foot that won—t allow her to wear heels for long (a hindrance in the tango, traditionally the domain of high-heeled women), a knee that can—t handle the “voodoo torque” of West Coast Swing, and, later, legs severely burned in a freak car fire. Babitz consistently links her love of dance to her love of Los Angeles, and she never describes a particular dance without mentioning who its best teachers are and where the best local club for dancing it is—as well as whether there’s parking. (This is L.A., after all.) Sometimes the jumble of names, facts, and places strikes sparks, as in her essay on West Coast Swing—a dance that, Babitz maintains, “has the worst name in the world”—in which she mixes up history, steps, personalities, and music in a way that seems to echo the form she’s talking about. Unfortunately, this information stew doesn—t work as well when she’s writing about tango, or the Cajun Fais Do-Do. Dance teachers, dance partners, and L.A. locations fly by in an entertaining whir, but the author never provides a coherent picture of what these dances feel or look like. Dancers and Angelenos will be entertained; non-dancers or non-residents might want to consider taking a class or two before trying out this step. (10 line drawings, not seen)

Pub Date: Nov. 3, 1999

ISBN: 0-684-83392-1

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
I USED TO BE CHARMING
by Eve Babitz

- BOOK REVIEW
BLACK SWANS
by Eve Babitz

- IN THE NEWS
Author Eve Babitz Has Died at 78

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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.