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MUDDY BOOTS AND RED SOCKS

Name: MUDDY BOOTS AND RED SOCKS
Author: Malcolm W. Browne
ISBN: 0-8129-6352-0

A REPORTER'S LIFE

by Malcolm W. Browne ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1993

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A top foreign correspondent's anecdotal memoir that, despite its ramshackle structure, affords many pleasures and not a few surprises. Browne (The New Face of War, 1965) made a name for himself during the early 1960's as the AP's man in Vietnam, where his ``muddy-boots'' reporting earned him a Pulitzer. (The title's allusion to red socks is a private joke: Browne has worn them since his days as a Korean-era GI who loathed olive drab.) But there's far more to the author's story than Southeast Asia. With time out for an unhappy year at ABC-TV, Browne ran news bureaus in Eastern Europe and South America for The New York Times, which also dispatched him to cover Pakistan's 1971 clash with India and, most recently, the Desert Storm campaign. The author provides vivid accounts of the risks and rewards of front-line journalism: Among other feats, he's survived three plane crashes, countless fire fights, Scud missile raids, detainment by Soviet Bloc constabulary, and the ire of domestic hawks. He also comments on the high-profile luminaries, lesser lights, and media colleagues he's encountered on his travels—from Peter Arnett through Pavel Kohout, Pablo Neruda, and Prince Sihanouk. And, on occasion, Browne editorializes shockingly, most notably in a Malthusian rant on the threat posed to Western civilization by Third World have-nots. While the author says little here about his private life, his episodic recollections of a news-gathering career in the world's combat zones and boondocks make for an absorbing chronicle. (Sixteen pages of photographs—not seen)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1993

ISBN: 0-8129-6352-0

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Times/Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1993

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

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

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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

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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

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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.