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THE PUSHCART PRIZE XXV

Name: THE PUSHCART PRIZE XXV
Author: Bill Henderson
ISBN: 1-888889-22-5

BEST OF THE SMALL PRESSES

edited by Bill Henderson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2000

Seventy-four entries were selected out of over 5,000 nominations. Another cut might well have been made, but there is wheat...

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The 25th anniversary edition of a tradition in American literature, heavier on quantity than quality but still worth perusing for some showstoppers.

Henderson’s introduction alone makes for worthwhile reading: the cast of beginning editors he names reads like the list for a literary hall of fame, and his history of the prize charts a recent trajectory of publishing at large. Among this year’s entries, essays, memoirs, and short stories dominate, with poems interspersed like an unfortunate form of punctuation: Cathleen Calbert’s “Bad Judgement,” with its dazzling and vibrant rhythm and flow, and the brutally full-bore “Six Apologies, Lord” by Olena Kalytiak Davis, among a few others, are strong exceptions. But it is a dozen or so short stories and a few memoirs and essays that deserve special recognition. Standouts include Salvatore Scibona’s “Prairie” (which evokes the solitary feel of growing up the Canadian prairie), Ken Kalfus’s “PU-239” (which tells of a nuclear reactor technician with nothing to lose), and other impressive inclusions (such as Kathleen Hill’s “The Annointed,” Jane McCaffrey’s “Berna’s Place,” and Joan Silber’s “Commendable”). Memoirs are surprisingly good: Bret Lott’s “Toward Humility” is notable, as well as Andrew Hudgins’s “Half-Answered Prayers.” And there is literary criticism, as well: in “Milton at the Bat,” Jeffrey Hammond writes a defense of Milton that reads like a modern-day defense of poetry. It is ironic that Hammond’s piece shares the stage with Seamus Heaney’s “New Staves” (an attempt to answer the question “What good is poetry?”), since a comparison of the two illustrates the imbalance that appears throughout the collection: while Heaney’s answer feels flat and rote, Hammond’s is enthusiastic and convincing.

Seventy-four entries were selected out of over 5,000 nominations. Another cut might well have been made, but there is wheat here among the chaff.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2000

ISBN: 1-888889-22-5

Page Count: 620

Publisher: Pushcart

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE PUSHCART PRIZE XLIX
edited by Bill Henderson with Pushcart Prize editors

- BOOK REVIEW
THE PUSHCART PRIZE XLVIII
edited by Bill Henderson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE PUSHCART PRIZE XLVII
edited by Bill Henderson

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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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.