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RULES OF THE GAME, BEYOND THE PALE

Name: RULES OF THE GAME, BEYOND THE PALE
Author: Nicholas Mosley
ISBN: 0-916583-75-9

MEMOIRS OF SIR OSWALD MOSLEY AND FAMILY

by Nicholas Mosley ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 3, 1991

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A memoir of the late British Fascist leader by his novelist son Nicholas Mosley (Judith, 1990, Serpent, 1989, etc.) may seem problematic, but as a biography of a controversial father by a loving and cleareyed son it is surprisingly charming. The Mosleys, it seems, were a very rum lot. Both Sir Oswald's father and grandfather lived apart from their wives, supposedly, in the case of his father, because of the man's insatiable and promiscuous sexual habits. Though Sir Oswald's own marriage to the daughter of Lord Curzon, the British foreign secretary, seems to have been a loving one, it was characterized by constant infidelities; Sir Oswald seems to have made love not only to most of his wife's friends but to her sister and her stepmother as well. He entered Parliament as a Conservative at age 22, became an Independent, then a Labor candidate, and was appointed to Ramsay MacDonald's cabinet in his 30's. He was regarded as one of the finest orators in the House of Commons, and as a possible future prime minister. But this was during the Depression, and Sir Oswald, to the left of the Labor Party, seems to have been appalled at the failure of Labor to honor its promises. It was at this point that he—perhaps influenced by his extraordinary impact on crowds and by the burgeoning of Fascism in Europe—seems to have gone wrong, and to have lacked the ordinary prudence to correct his mistake. The result was a fiasco, a dwindling following, and three years of imprisonment without trial at the start of WW II, followed by two years under house arrest. This is the inheritance with which the son seeks to grapple, and it is a tribute to his honesty and insight—as well as to the rakish recklessness and demonic ability of his subject—that it's hard to resist a measure of sympathy for one who has hitherto been regarded as beyond the pale.

Pub Date: June 3, 1991

ISBN: 0-916583-75-9

Page Count: 585

Publisher: Dalkey Archive

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1991

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
LOOK AT THE DARK
by Nicholas Mosley

- BOOK REVIEW
THE HESPERIDES TREE
by Nicholas Mosley

- BOOK REVIEW
CHILDREN OF DARKNESS AND LIGHT
by Nicholas Mosley

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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.