Curiouser and curiouser as the contributors take us down their private pleasure warrens.
Finley (Pooh Unplugged: An Unauthorized Memoir, not reviewed, etc.) told her fellow contributors to this anthology of erotica that they could write absolutely anything, and this daft pile of literary whiffle, some of it serious, drifts as far from Henry James as words allow. Linda M. Montano’s “Once Upon a Time” mixes the Prodigal Son’s return home with his Ascent to the Union of Love by way of recipes for Chai, Keer, Chapati, Basmati rice, and Cashew Rice with Peas. Wallace Shawn pulls out his 1975 battle-of-the-sexes one-act play, The Youth Hostel, while John Waters treats us to photographs of “12 Assholes and a Dirty Foot.” Feminist poet bell hooks relates the writing of poetry to her “Penis Passion” and “Gimme Some Dick.” Finley swallows her confrontational side but reveals all with “He Delivers! A Straight Woman Looks at Gay Male Porn.” Famed fetishists also on hand: Hubert Selby Jr., Annie Sprinkle, and Vagina Davis.
Curiouser and curiouser as the contributors take us down their private pleasure warrens.Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2001
ISBN: 1-56025-282-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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