More delightful linguistic nit-picking from Safire. This seventh collection of the author's ``On Language'' columns (Language Maven Strikes Again, 1990, etc.), reprinted from The New York Times Magazine, finds him in fine and cranky fettle: Instead of an opening acknowledgments page, he gives us ``Credits,'' since ``Acknowledgments is a word that, to me, connotes grudging admission of the need to say thanks....Besides, the snooty word has a fake Latin prefix: hell with it.'' Although the columns cover scores of topics ranging from ``drug-war lingo'' to the phrase ``pushing the envelope'' and the idiosyncrasies of apostrophes, readers will note the regularity with which Safire tackles the utterances of George Bush—for example, the former President's description ``of a photo session at which he makes remarks but refuses to answer reporters' questions as `a limited photo op cum statement sans questions' ''). As in the earlier collections, much of the fun here comes from the many readers' responses to the columns—e.g., Leo Rosten, commenting on Safire's piece on political phrasing, remembering his own unsuccessful attempt, while at the RAND Corporation, to complement the word ``warfare'' with ``peacefare''; or the fellow from Pleasantville, New York, who answers Safire's column about misplaced plurals by citing the story of the Bronx woman who asked her daughter, Bella, for a ``Kleeneck'': ``Bella said, `Ma, it's Kleenex.' To which Ma replied, `Yeah, I know, but I only want one.' ''
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-679-42324-9
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1993
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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