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ANGELS DON'T DIE

Name: ANGELS DON'T DIE
Author: Patti Davis
ISBN: 0-06-017324-6

MY FATHER'S GIFT OF FAITH

by Patti Davis ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1995

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Angels may not die, but they will surely wish for suspended animation until the last copy of this book is shredded. Ronald Reagan's daughter has already wasted her parents in earlier books (The Way I See It, not reviewed, etc.). Now she has come 180 degrees, and having found God, she gives the credit to her father. Or maybe she has confused her father with God—it's not altogether clear. Blessedly, Davis's report of her epiphany is short—and shallow. In this volume, the Great Communicator is so often portrayed as lifting his blue eyes to the heavens that he seems to be reading the Great TelePrompTer in the Sky. Davis's turnaround began when her father was shot by John Hinckley. She visited him in the hospital, she says, and heard him say that his healing was dependent on forgiving the gunman. ``I remember telling him,'' she says, ``you're the best Christian around.'' Gradually, she began to reinterpret stories and incidents from her childhood. For instance, a remark made by her father after her grandfather's funeral—``Why are you crying''—comes to be seen as peaceful acceptance of death rather than insensitivity. Stories of horseback rides with her father in the California hills, troubled dreams, fables of angels, and advice on ``talking to God'' emerge as antidotes to the author's earlier tales of misunderstanding and neglect. According to Davis, the ailing President Reagan is grateful when his troubled children come home for family holidays, but the stiffly worded forewords that he and Nancy have prepared for this book suggest that old wounds are still tender. Neither mentions their daughter, the author. Looking for enlightenment about presidential fathers as spiritual guides? Wait until Chelsea gets a little older. ($120,000 ad/promo; author tour)

Pub Date: June 1, 1995

ISBN: 0-06-017324-6

Page Count: 128

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1995

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
DEAR MOM AND DAD
by Patti Davis

- BOOK REVIEW
FLOATING IN THE DEEP END
by Patti Davis

- BOOK REVIEW
BONDAGE
by Patti Davis

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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.