Fulghum offers a disclaimer at the outset of this collection of new essays: ``Nothing definitive is intended on any subject. In fact, I am deliberately depending on your adding your thoughts and experiences....The book will not work without your taking significant responsibility for it.'' Uh-oh. Sounds like the Fulghum machine is running out of steam—and the ensuing pages read like it, too. Like the offerings in the megaselling It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It (1989) and All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (1988), these rambling conversational musings resemble notes for homilies by a puckish minister (which Unitarian Fulghum has been) who likes to tweak his congregants without making anyone uncomfortable. There are a few relatively mind-opening anecdotes here (a juggler at a Christmas Eve service whose equipment was stolen but who nonetheless managed to wow the audience by juggling illusions; a prized cigar of the author's, laid down for a moment and picked up by an elderly passerby who savored it so thoroughly that Fulghum says, ``The old man may have smoked it, but I've not enjoyed a cigar more''). A school play of Cinderella in which a little fat boy who insisted on playing a pig (nonexistent in the script) steals the show, weddings and funerals relieved of their deadly solemnity by inappropriate bodily noises, the author's decision to liven up a dumpy day by eating Cheerios and jellybeans and walking to his office wearing his granddaughter's beanie copter—the trademark Fulghum themes are here as well, but the charm seems thinner, the sentimentality thicker, and the writing slacker. At his best, Fulghum's simple verities and undemanding spirituality have made him a brand-name remedy for our age's malaise. This is not his best, but the placebo effect will probably carry it to best-sellerdom. (Literary Guild Dual Selection for September.)
Pub Date: Aug. 26, 1991
ISBN: 0-679-40103-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Villard
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
