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OUTLAW COOK

Name: OUTLAW COOK
Author: John Thorne
ISBN: 0-374-22836-1

by John Thorne with Matt Lewis Thorne ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1992

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Billed here as ``an iconoclastic eater,'' Thorne—author of a food newsletter and a 1987 anthology drawn from its pages, both titled Simple Cooking—is so far from the usual run of gushing food-writers as to make M.F.K. Fisher (reviewed above) look a little precious. Like Fisher's, Thorne's food-writing often takes the form of personal recollections. Both Fisher and Thorne are engaging, witty writers—but Thorne's wit has a harder edge. He's an acute and independent critic, as seen here in a complaint about what he says is prominent cookbook-author Paula Wolfort's practice of praising food that her readers have no opportunities to sample, and in a shrewd exploration of the appeal of glossy hostess/guru Martha Stewart. Though he flaunts a cavalier disdain for recipes and says he's not a good cook, Thorne makes a point of understanding what goes on under the lid, and he can be dead serious about procedure: Here, he discourses extensively on making bread in a wood-fired oven and without commercial yeast packets, then ends the section not with recipes but with a bibliography. Both substantive and refreshingly quirky: Thorne's food- writing can feed your head and clear it of the prevailing burble.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-374-22836-1

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1992

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
HOME BODY
by John Thorne

- BOOK REVIEW
SERIOUS PIG
by John Thorne & Matt Lewis Thorne

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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.