Every writer’s situation is unique, and each needs to find his or her own path, but this admirable journey through a veteran...
A sparkling look at how children’s book author and poet Atkins (Mary Anning and the Sea Dragon, 2012, etc.) writes and lives.
Atkins’ conceit is a simple but endearing one: a collection of her thoughts for each season of the year, not only about the vexing craft of writing, but also about the events happening in her life. She colorfully captures the solitary existence of the writer, struggling largely against her many self-doubts but also against a changing, inhospitable publishing marketplace. Atkins takes readers through the many fits and starts along the meandering road to the completion of one of her works; she then quickly switches to another book to occupy her mind while the first sits trapped in an agonizing publishing limbo. She artfully sketches her procedure as being akin to carrying a child to term and then hoping the offspring can find a place in the world. Despite also being a college professor (Writing/Simmons College), Atkins keeps the tone of her advice conversational and not at all lecture-ish, making it accessible for wannabe writers and casual readers alike. This isn’t a how-to book; rather, Atkins simply offers up many pointers she has learned during her decadeslong development as a writer. Running along a parallel track is what’s going on in her life as she deals with empty-nest syndrome and her best friend’s dying of cancer, along with the minutiae of quotidian life that can distract any creative person from achieving his or her ultimate goals. She offers lessons she has drawn from nearby flora and fauna, as viewed from her writerly perch at her Massachusetts home or from the locations of several re-energizing trips she takes throughout the book.
Every writer’s situation is unique, and each needs to find his or her own path, but this admirable journey through a veteran author’s process provides instructions that should prove valuable to most.Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-1491000557
Page Count: 190
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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