Chiefly Reeves' syndicated (and Esquire) columns, 1979-81—with some initial I-discover-California material and interpolated comments. At first, this might be mistaken for a bona fide book: in 1979, political reporter Reeves married a well-employed Californian, took up bicoastal living, and became a roving columnist. He'd recently written a piece for Esquire ("California vs. the U.S.A.") positing a "tug-of-war, cultural war, between Los Angeles and New York City. . . The new values against the old." Now semi-relocated, he also picked up an assignment from The New Yorker: "California as you see it." That turns out to mean L.A.'s hazardous built-up hillsides (the brushfires, floods, landslides) and the local earthquake peril, plus the last days of the real-estate boom. For Esquire, in turn, he wrote sympathetically about the Chicanos and the '79 California gas crunch. But except for an occasional reference to the California point of view (e.g., their man in the White House), the rest is just a stream of columns—loosely grouped and lightly connected—on such assorted matters as security devices, the Moral Majority, the US auto business, the airline coupon mania (under "Different Places"); prime-time television, the L.A. Times' non-coverage of a nobody's killing, "push-button democracy," the "overrated" powers of the press ("What Do We Know and When Do We Know It"); presidential politics (an entire section); and diverse, mostly-estimable individuals—from Brooklyn highschool principal Abraham Lass to Betty Friedan to William O. Douglas. If Reeves has a hobby-horse, it's summed up by the section-heading "Cruel and Unusual Government"—but examples crop up elsewhere too. He isn't doctrinaire (he'd have gun control, for instance, and stiffer sentencing); but these are still quick, snappy takes on currently hot topics, and no more. Apprentice journalists can pick up some tips on the strategies of column-writing (and keeping gainfully employed); Reeves' fans will find him very much on camera. On the whole, though, this is writing that did its job—to entertain and provoke—at the time it was done.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1981
ISBN: 0836262077
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1981
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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