"Ocean racing is like standing under an ice cold shower, tearing up thousand dollar bills," WFB muses. On May 30, 1975, he set out at last on the Big One, crossing the Stygian frontier from Miami, Florida, to Marbella, Spain, in his schooner Cyrano—a 30-day cruise accompanied by his son and a few friends. The color-coordinated Cyrano is, well, luxurious: wall-to-wall carpeting, original oils in the lushly illuminated saloon, an almost silent ("most expensive") generator, air conditioning, picture windows, extra portholes, a bar, a piano and other first-class navigational needs. The lackadaisical crossing is breezily told from a pastiche of journal and logbook entries by several hands, all of them touched with WFB's own panache for arch euphemism, a kind of spreading verbal disease that overcomes all in his company. Says he: ". . . on board a boat I have found that I do not like to change my seat at mealtimes. I care not where it is, but care that I should be at the same place during a cruise. . . . It was widely suspected that my querencia at the center of the table was selected with considerable forethought to my derivative unavailability for errand-running." Such light-catching gives a soft undramatic glow to an otherwise wistful burble.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1976
ISBN: 0025180401
Page Count: 284
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1976
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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