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MISS RHYTHM

Name: MISS RHYTHM
Author: Ruth Brown
ISBN: 1-55611-486-9

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF RUTH BROWN, RHYTHM AND BLUES LEGEND

by Ruth Brown & Andrew Yule ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 22, 1996

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A key figure in rhythm and blues looks back on her turbulent past with the help of film journalist Yule (The Man Who ``Framed'' the Beatles, 1994, etc.). Ruth Brown, born in 1928, was the oldest of seven kids, raised in Portsmouth, Va., by her mother, a domestic, and her father, a day laborer. From childhood she harbored dreams of being a professional singer, dreams that her religious but hard-drinking father adamantly opposed. In adolescence, Brown managed to begin a singing career on the sly, even sneaking off to New York, where she won the talent contest at the Apollo Theater's legendary amateur night. But until she met Blanche Calloway (Cab's sister and an ex-bandleader in her own right), who gave her some polish and poise, her career was going nowhere. Calloway hooked her up with Atlantic Records, then a nascent firm specializing in ``race'' records. Atlantic would become known over the next several years as the ``House that Ruth Brown built,'' as she landed one hit R&B number after another. In the meanwhile, she suffered from a succession of faithless husbands, the aftereffects of a car accident that broke both her legs in several places, and finally, a classical '50s suburban marriage that brought her career to a halt for several years. Much of the second half of the book is taken up with her lengthy battle with Atlantic to get a fair share of the money she had helped the company earn in the 1950s, counterposed with her comeback in the 1980s, which was climaxed by a Tony Award for her role in the Broadway show Black and Blue. Brown's ultimately successful battle to win monetary justice for herself and other aging R&B stars and her startling recollections of traveling throught the segregated South lift this above the usual run of show-biz bios. (photos, not seen)

Pub Date: Feb. 22, 1996

ISBN: 1-55611-486-9

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Donald Fine

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1995

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
BLACK BEAUTY
by Anna Sewell ; adapted by Ruth Brown ; illustrated by Ruth Brown

- BOOK REVIEW
THE QUAYSIDE CAT
by Toby Forward ; illustrated by Ruth Brown

- BOOK REVIEW
MONKEY'S FRIENDS
by Ruth Brown & illustrated by Ruth Brown

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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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.