A provocative manual for achieving happiness that’s punctuated with original, intriguing images.
A debut New Age meditation guide that combines captivating illustrations with suggestions for attaining inner peace.
The academic-sounding title of this work doesn’t adequately convey the idealistic and magical nature of its contents. In an introductory paragraph titled “Sand Dune Poetry,” Link describes his drawings and paintings as “glyphalalia,” a word he derives from “glossolalia”—speaking in tongues. His illustrations seem to radiate a lively spirituality with their abstract figures and invented runic alphabets. The images’ dynamic colors and shapes pair well with Link’s pithy meditations, which often come in the form of instructions: “Surrender. Give up. Accept the fact that you’re not going to solve all the world’s problems.” The illustration for “Transforming the Blessings” is apparently drawn on a paper napkin, with lines and figures leaping off its crinkled edges, as the text instructs, “Thank Mother Earth for giving you a home. / Feel your connection to her gravity.” As the book’s title suggests, the overarching theme is joy, and most meditations do offer a path toward delight. Some are mystical, such as “Sands of Joy,” which bids readers to “Become a Pillar of Light,” while others are distinctly pragmatic: “Keep your agreements. Broken agreements often create guilt and anger.” Even some cynical readers might be tempted by Link’s playful challenge to brighten up a grim roomful of people by silently chanting the word “enjoy.” Occasionally, the text offers tired truisms, such as “Kindness is its own reward,” but more often, it showcases unexpected lines: “Cherish the cavewoman who is your ancestress” or “Sometimes, watching television can create a feeling of joy.” The author’s distinctive vision, coupled with the transcendent illustrations, may make this book a well-thumbed favorite.
A provocative manual for achieving happiness that’s punctuated with original, intriguing images.Pub Date: June 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9909255-0-7
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Coyote Eye Press
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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