Plotting the contemporary mystery is a tough discipline—a discipline most authors of mainstream fiction would rather spare themselves—to judge from the few consensual opinions expressed in the 13 long interviews that Herbert (editor-in-chief of the forthcoming Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing) conducts with writers from P.D. James to Tony Hillerman. The group agrees on little else: Jonathan Gash describes his work as ``self-delighting,'' and Jane Langton and John Mortimer revel in their status as entertainers, but Julian Symons repeats his frequent assertion that mystery fiction is necessarily second-rate, and Patricia Cornwell bristles at being labeled a ``mystery writer'': ``I entertain by not entertaining!'' Herbert's leading questions—about the authors' backgrounds and writing habits; about the importance of place and the sense of mortality; about whether mystery fiction can attain the status of literature—though not especially penetrating (something you'd never know from her typically wide-eyed reaction to James: ``What a profound statement!''), can pay off in unexpected ways, as when Sue Grafton's description of her work habits opens up the general question of the mystery's focus, or when Robert Barnard blithely deflects one Big Question after Another. Most of the other subjects—Reginald Hill, Jeremiah Healy, Catherine Aird, and Barbara Neely—hit Herbert's softballs over the fence too. (Foreword by Antonia Fraser)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-8161-7279-X
Page Count: 336
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
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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