Over 150 color photos brighten this breezy account by Michener and longtime assistant Kings (who took most of the pictures) of their recent trip to Cuba to research the novelist's latest tome (Caribbean, p. 1192). Michener contributes a long essay about the trip, bookended by short essays by Kings and all laid out so that the myriad photos illustrate their proximate text. That text trades mightily in Michneresque melodrama (a typical subtitle is "My fairy-tale flight to Cuba," leading to a description of the 38-minute flight from Miama to Havana, a brevity of travel that Michener finds "staggering"). Still, steering clear of politics and concentrating on the human-interest aspects of their trip—people met (not Castro, but many working classers plus novelist Pablo Armando Fernandez); buildings admired (including Hemingway's house); and stores and restaurants and concerts patronized—the authors give a fair flavor of Havanan daily life. Even more telling, though, are the excellent photographs, brimming with glorious pastels and sun-bred spirit.
Pub Date: Oct. 6, 1989
ISBN: 0771058683
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Univ. of Texas
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1989
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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