Veteran journalist and traveler Reeves (President Kennedy: Profile of Power, 1993, etc.) in lite mode, as he cobbles together family impressions of their 34-day, jet-propelled, round-the-world jaunt. Reeves, his wife, Catherine, and (for most of the trip) three of their children, ages 10 to 29, took off in mid-1995 for a quick spin around the globe. The kids were asked by Catherine to spend a few minutes each day jotting down their impressions. Reeves gathered together all these notes and, plaiting them with his own whimsical material and the more severe musings of Catherine, produced this pastiche of travelogue, memoir, and off-the-cuff personal journalism. They headed west, to Tokyo, then China, Indonesia, the Subcontinent, the Persian Gulf, the Levant, and lastly to Europe via North Africa. They hit the usual tourist spots, spent much time critiquing their lodgings, kept up an awesome pace. While both Catherine and the children occasionally write some pretty bright stuff, it is Reeves's personality that shines from these pages: He is an expert at the thumbnail sketch of places and politics (for years a political correspondent, he had covered many of the lands they were to visit) and at concise histories (Pakistan is particularly good here). But it's clear that he likes people most—"In the end you can gauge countries and the whole world on whether or not you like the people you meet." While most of those they seem to have encountered were either prime ministers or ambassadors or press attachés or assorted bureau chiefs, that doesn't faze Reeves, nor, thankfully, does it go to his head. Though it's all too quick for any depth, there are savory nuggets everywhere, and the little absurdities and disjunctions of travel take on vigor and wit in Reeves's hands.
Pub Date: March 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-8362-2175-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1997
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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