Fans of Fannie Flagg should be overjoyed to discover the rustic, lighthearted musings of this Southern writer, who enchants...
The self-proclaimed Southern queen of “weird news” reporting offers a collection of dispatches.
Huntsville, Alabama–based journalist and humor columnist Kazek (co-author: Alabama Scoundrels, 2014, etc.) shares amusing anecdotes detailing her life and career as a newswoman and popular blogger. The book’s lively introduction is hilarious, setting a casual, affable tone much akin to having a fun coffee date with a chatty best friend. The author divulges that as a child she didn’t envision herself as the “person who gets emails about UFO sightings and invitations to Bigfoot hunts,” and now she produces reports on oddities around her home state of Alabama and beyond. She describes her childhood as an “innocent time” in the 1970s with Mercurochrome for leg scrapes, a big brother whom she idolized, cheerleading, rhinestone tiaras, and adolescent adventures. As a journalist, she covered “nekkid” news stories, newsroom foibles, celebrities, UFO sighting groups, and a clever array of priceless truisms on parenting. Though delivered with cleverness and effervescent charm, the work also provides depth and true affection. Kazek’s mother died when the author was in her mid-20s, and she poignantly admits to still not being able to write about her, though a short, sweet anecdote involving chains and a tree is pure heart. Memories combined with pet names for her husband (“Sweetums”), daughter (“Baby Girl”), and brother (“Doofus”) elevate the homespun charisma even further. Boosting the allure of the delightful book is the addition of “How to Visit” sections of bizarre “ODDyssey” tourism that feature photographs, locations, and ways to visit a wide selection of area curiosities like the Stonehenge replicas in Alabama and Kentucky, the mysterious Georgia Guidestones, and the gastronomic Athens (Alabama) Grease Festival. Representing herself as a Southern writer brimming with wit, Kazek presents stories that aren’t tall tales that stretch the limits of plausibility but are instead reflections of the eccentric nature of her Southern life—and life in general—when it’s enjoyed with a positive attitude and a healthy sense of humor.
Fans of Fannie Flagg should be overjoyed to discover the rustic, lighthearted musings of this Southern writer, who enchants with keen, droll observations and needlepoint wisdom.Pub Date: April 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-9986362-3-8
Page Count: 254
Publisher: Solomon & George Publishers
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
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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