A charming personal tour through the history, art, and architecture of Florence. Having lived there on and off for the last several decades, Lewis (The Jameses, 1991, etc.) sees the city as an inhabitant rather than a tourist. Keeping a journal during his many extended stays, he eventually found himself ``writing what was in effect a partial biography of Florence, essentially the story of its shaping; combined with...personal reminiscences of life in the city.'' It is precisely this interweaving of the personal and the historical that lends the book its great charm. Few places can match the layered history that makes Florence a palimpsest of European and Italian civilization. Lewis notes that the city is not just the cradle of the Renaissance but a synthesis of the Roman, medieval, Renaissance, and modern, where the sacred and the profane have coexisted in creative tension for over a millennium. Particularly strong is the description of the river Arno's importance, including a history of the several bridges that span its sporadically violent waters and of the achievements of generations of architects whose designs ensured that the city exists in harmony with the river. Despite its division into fiercely independent quarters, writes Lewis, Florence remains an insieme, a word that roughly translates as ``a together-ness.'' Reflecting the 15th century's civic humanism, the city today is still res publica (the people's thing) and eminently livable. At a time when many of the world's urban areas are in crisis, this book reminds us that cities were once perceived as works of art, reflections of all that was best in the human spirit. Combining scholarship and humanity, Lewis has crafted a wonderful book that gives voice to the city. (Illustrations, not seen)
Pub Date: April 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-374-12404-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
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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