The domestic correspondence between Mr. Cuddle-Wuddle (Stein) and Baby Precious (Toklas) reveals the inner hearts and inner workings of the 20th century’s most famous lesbian marriage. Over their 39 years together, Stein and Toklas left little notes to each other, snippets of poetry and passion which, awash in love and devotion, commemorate the pair’s daily doings. Rife with affection and candor, Stein’s late-night scribblings to her beloved touch upon the heights of their love; its nether-regions, however, are also adumbrated when Stein, for example, comments (all too often) upon the frequency and consistency of Toklas’s bowel movements. Other fragments touch with endearing frankness upon their sex lives, as when Stein self-consciously whips up her phallic pen to fill Toklas with carnal pleasures. A London honeymoon, the pressures of the world wars, flowers, and cigarettes decorate these valentines with the quotidian aura of their lives, and even when the occasional tiff looms, one can hardly doubt the sincerity of the affection described. Photographs, sketches, shipping labels, and receipts, which are printed alongside the notes, round out this intimate view into the women’s lives. For scholars of Stein, the giddy wordplay of the notes illuminates her previously published work as well as the details and desires of her life. Though this collection holds obvious interest for both Stein’s fans and scholars, it offers only approximately one-third of the extant 312 notes (295 of them from Stein, 17 from Toklas) with no annotations to complement Turner’s brief introduction. Though it is somewhat jarring to adjust one’s perception of Gertrude Stein to include her alter ego Mr. Cuddle-Wuddle, the effort provides many warm examples of her genius and her heart. The collection makes a convincing case for Toklas’s assertion that “notes are a very beautiful form of literature”—personal, provocative, and tender.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-312-19832-9
Page Count: 176
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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