bookshelf

SLIGHTLY CHIPPED

Name: SLIGHTLY CHIPPED
Author: Lawrence Goldstone
ISBN: 0-312-20587-2

FOOTNOTES IN BOOKLORE

by Lawrence Goldstone & Nancy Goldstone ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1999

bookshelf

Slightly Chipped is the second volume of book collecting anecdotes by the husband-and-wife team the Goldstones (Used and Rare: Travels in the Book World, 1997). While their first effort was praised as “passionate,” its companion conveys more of an excitement about the chase and chance of possession than a true love for the books as literature. In ten brief chapters, the Goldstones take us on a journey through book fairs, bookstores, museums, libraries, and Sotheby’s. Throughout, they try continuously to make great stories of every detail, from what they eat for supper at the restaurant across the street to various people they meet. Some of their subjects are more interesting than others. The chapter on a visit to the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia cannot help but be intriguing; the building itself and its contents—a fabulous book collection included—are a little-known gem, and thanks to the Goldstones, it will probably welcome more visitors than ever. Perhaps, too, the Pequot Library annual sale in a small coastal town in Connecticut will be visited by curious readers. But much of the writing here is too preoccupied with the financial transaction of the book collecting habit—prices and resale value. Whereas the authors would once have hemmed and hawed (like most of us) before coughing up over $200 for a book, they are “much more sophisticated now.” One hopes that the missing passion might be found in the “footnotes” referred to in the title. But the authors disappoint by backing their reporting with redundant histories of subjects ranging from Bloomsbury to the duke and duchess of Windsor. A drab and simultaneously fussy but conversational prose style does not enliven the situation. Rather than pulling the uninitiated into the exciting and beautiful world of book collecting, the Goldstones are writing here for the converted.

Pub Date: May 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-312-20587-2

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
DAYS OF INFAMY
by Lawrence Goldstone

- BOOK REVIEW
SEPARATE NO MORE
by Lawrence Goldstone

- BOOK REVIEW
ON ACCOUNT OF RACE
by Lawrence Goldstone

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.