Essays on the myriad pleasing details of family life by the author of Daddy's Home! (1990), an English professor (Sarah Lawrence) with an eye for the magic in the mundane. ``What is this thing called love, I wonder, lying beside my wife on a narrow sofa in the middle of a Sunday afternoon....How have we managed to navigate the sandy shoals of marriage and parenthood...? And what, God forbid, would we ever do without each other, entwined as we are, body and soul?'' So go Schnur's unabashedly sentimental ruminations on the birth of love and the complex family life that can result—as perfectly pitched for Valentine's Day as a Hallmark card. Having married his high-school sweetheart, a graphic artist, Schnur went on to buy a small house in the country, work as a magazine editor, and, eventually, hope for kids. It took a number of years—the Schnurs had their bout with fertility clinics—but they finally hit the jackpot with a first child and then, shortly thereafter, twins. Along the way, Schnur found he adored being the neighborhood ``dad''—more available than most of his neighbors for horsey-riding, swing- pushing, hair-mussing, and baseball-tossing. It's in these little moments that he finds material for his essays: in ``Love Letters,'' wherein the sight of a mother walking with her children inspires him to write a note to his wife; in ``The Universe Over Breakfast,'' in which Schnur attempts to discuss metaphysics with his family at eight in the morning; in ``Four Generations,'' in which Schnur's grandmother plays with her great-granddaughter and wishes she could see the child when she is grown. Offering few true literary insights, and at times smacking of a deliberate intent to manipulate and charm. Nevertheless, a pleasant diversion for those with no time to smell the flowers in their own backyards.
Pub Date: Jan. 17, 1992
ISBN: 0-688-11022-3
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1991
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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