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USEFUL KNOWLEDGE

Name: USEFUL KNOWLEDGE
Author: Gertrude Stein
ISBN: 1581770766

by Gertrude Stein ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 23, 1988

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Out of print for more than 60 years, this is Stein's paean to America, a compendium of prose pieces and poems—most of which were unpublished when the American expatriate collected them for book publication in the early 1920's. Among the subjects Stein covers here are Woodrow Wilson, Chicago, Sherwood Anderson, Baltimore, and the difference between the South and the North, all written about in the classic Stein manner—so many readers will no doubt be grateful for the illuminating foreword by Edward Burns, literary executor of the Alice B. Toklas estate, and the introduction by Keith Waldrop, executive director of Brown U.'s graduate writing program. At once, and often, polished and impenetrable, this is prime Stein—e.g., on the "The Difference Between the Inhabitants of France and the Inhabitants of the United States of America": ". . .To guess which is which. Which is which. Guess. Two guess. Which is which. . ."

Pub Date: Jan. 23, 1988

ISBN: 1581770766

Page Count: 248

Publisher: Station Hill

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1988

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
A LITTLE CALLED PAULINE
by Gertrude Stein ; illustrated by Bianca Stone

- BOOK REVIEW
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALICE B. TOKLAS ILLUSTRATED
by Gertrude Stein ; illustrated by Maira Kalman

- BOOK REVIEW
PARIS FRANCE
by Gertrude Stein

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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.