bookshelf

THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

Name: THE MOMENT OF TRUTH
Author: Kristin Beck
ISBN: 1-58005-069-7

WOMEN’S FUNNIEST ROMANTIC CATASTROPHES

edited by Kristin Beck ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2001

All in all, though, insipid and dull.

bookshelf

Twenty-two mostly unfunny anecdotes exploring that moment of epiphany when a woman realizes that a disastrous relationship is over.

With enthusiasm but little else, Beck (co-author, Facing 30, not reviewed) brings together a series of repetitive stories chronicling lovers’ angst. The experiences here hardly seem universal or amusing. In “Demon Lover,” Elizabeth Matthews trysts with her lover in the park: “Soon, I associated the act of kissing him with the smell of dog shit.” She lists his other shortcomings: he’s a high-school dropout, has never held a job, lives in a hotel with his mother, has rotting teeth. We see the catastrophe, but where’s the romance? The mood is meant to be flippant, of course, but too many of the contributors mistake salacious details for clever writing. In “The Tao of Pizza and Sex,” R. Gay meets a woman on-line: “Cynthia and I exchanged pictures and she was cute enough, for a white girl, though in all her pictures, her cheeks were inexplicably rosy as if she were plagued by eternal cheer.” After four months, the two decide to meet, but, alas, fair Cynthia has rank hygiene and refuses to clean up her act. Rather than confront her new lover, Gay subjects the reader to all the gory details. Poor hygiene makes several appearances in these confessions: the offending parties wander through the pages, revealing plaque-encrusted teeth, burping, and leaving pungent odors in their wake. There are a few redeeming pieces, thankfully: Rekha Kuver recites a charming tale of an eighth-grade party gone awry (“In the middle of my basement, during the middle of my party, like an unbelievable mirage or projected holographic image, were two high schoolers. . . . This was sure to elevate my boy-girl party to the level of legend. Instead, I was terrified”). Allison Kraiberg recalls her law-student lover (“an Oscar to my Felix”), proving that opposites do attract, and Alison Luterman contributes a typically stellar poem.

All in all, though, insipid and dull.

Pub Date: June 1, 2001

ISBN: 1-58005-069-7

Page Count: 292

Publisher: Seal Press

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2002

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

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

bookshelf

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

bookshelf

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.