Life of the ``Divine One,'' by the author of the well-received Nat King Cole bio Unforgettable (1991). Gourse has a lively subject in Vaughan (1924-90), whose voice was a soaring and dipping bebop instrument that charmed most listeners but also bored or offended a few with its slow and seemingly overinvolved delivery. Musicians adored playing with Vaughan, although her later repertoire—with its saccharine Percy Faith strings, Beatles tunes, and pop sentiments—saddened purists. Vaughan doesn't provide Gourse with as dramatic a personal history as did Cole. Choir-singing Vaughan showed early talent in Newark, with an ear for copying with voice and piano anything she heard on radio. She skipped school or climbed out the bedroom window to hear musicians at clubs or in theaters. Despite adulation by Billy Eckstine, Earl Hines, and others who hired her, she was gap- toothed, rail-thin, and shy until her first husband, trumpeter George Treadwell, revamped her, had her teeth capped, and became her manager. With a phenomenal ear for chords, Vaughan always felt she'd learned most from her work with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, though she long thought her best recordings were with trumpeter Clifford Brown. Later, she took up concertizing and even worked with symphony conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. Life with her husband dissolved into fighting, with Treadwell overbearing, abusive, and jealous—though he could be charming and generous as well. Eventually, Vaughan had five, often jealous, husbands and won and lost several fortunes. She died of lung cancer and was mourned by musicians everywhere. Says Gourse: ``In her twenties and thirties, her voice had been as light and brilliant as fine wine; by her sixties it was as robust as cognac.'' Too much shifting bandstand personnel to keep steady interest. (Thirty-two photos.)
Pub Date: Jan. 12, 1993
ISBN: 0-684-19317-5
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1992
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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