An appealingly personal and informative journey through the life of a violin and the couple who “own” it.
Kelley takes readers on a discursive tour through the life of an Italian violin.
In May 2000, Kelley and his professional violinist wife Cheri realized their dream of owning a Cremonese violin. In Kelley’s view, however, “You never truly own one of these violins, you simply pass through its life.” So begins Kelley’s unique and informative journey from the recent past through the four seasons of the violin’s life, starting with 18th-century Cremona during the golden age of violin making. He details the masters of the form, Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù, as well as the life, work, and continuing influence of the composer Antonio Vivaldi. In the second season, the violin comes to America, making its first documented appearance in 1901, when it was purchased in Illinois from a traveling salesman. In the third season, Kelley introduces the craftsmen responsible for the violin, focusing on Giovanni Battista Ceruti, who didn’t open his violin shop until the age of 40. Throughout, the author also provides heartfelt anecdotes about his wife and her dedication to her craft. Kelley shares his own past as a former serious musician who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in violin performance but realized toward the end of his college tenure that he’d never be able to make a living as a violinist. Instead, he ended up working in a small community bank, which eventually, through a series of mergers, became one of the largest banks in the U.S. Occasionally, the author gets sidetracked, recounting events that are only tangentially related, often including trips to Italy and the people he encountered along the way, but all in the same good-natured, effervescent, inquisitive tone. The picture that emerges is of a thoughtful, dedicated man who’s earnestly pursuing both personal history and the history of violin making, weaving together his own experiences with deep research into the history of Italian violin making.
An appealingly personal and informative journey through the life of a violin and the couple who “own” it.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9781938462665
Page Count: 180
Publisher: Old Stone Press
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.
Documenting perilous times.
In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668052273
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
IN THE NEWS
PERSPECTIVES
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
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