A good balance of laugh-out-loud and tear-jerking recollections: Gethers makes Norton immortal, delivering an affecting...
Famed feline Norton, the Scottish Fold, who enchanted readers in The Cat Who Went to Paris (1991) and A Cat Abroad (1993), makes his final appearance here, in a highly engaging collection of anecdotes, which Gethers weaves into a heart-wrenching tale of love and loss.
In a witty style reminiscent of William Styron, Gethers amuses with memories about traveling throughout the US and Europe with his famous, inseparable companion. During these journeys, Norton indulged in superb cuisine, charmed haughty concierges, and was accosted by throngs of fawning fans. Back in their weekend retreat in Sag Harbor, Long Island, Norton and Gethers mingled with the Hamptons elite, which included actor Anthony Hopkins, who invited the author to a private party on the condition that Norton would also attend. Gethers also escorted Norton to the home of an intimidating investor, known as the “Nightmare on Wall Street,” who ignored Gethers as she rolled around on the floor with Norton. These humorous accounts of the author being upstaged by his cat stand on their own, but Gethers goes on to add a mournful drama. Soon after man and cat moved into their dream apartment in Greenwich Village, tragedy struck: Norton was diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly, Gethers becomes a sobbing hysteric, as the fury creature with whom he shares a bond of unconditional love succumbs to illness. Although Gethers confesses to living selfishly—he has always refused to clutter his life with a wife and children—Norton’s illness transformed Gethers into a self-sacrificial caretaker who sought renowned veterinarians, gave Norton daily injections of saline solutions, and cooked natural home-remedy dinners.
A good balance of laugh-out-loud and tear-jerking recollections: Gethers makes Norton immortal, delivering an affecting narrative that belongs on the bookshelf of all cat-fanciers.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2001
ISBN: 0-7679-0637-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Broadway
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2001
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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