A passionate, dreamlike memoir that draws you into its reverie.
A literary memoir from the wife of one of the most beloved figures in children’s literature.
Consuelo Carrillo met the famous French writer and pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in Buenos Aires within a year of being widowed from her first husband. The smitten Antoine proposed on the night they met. Overwhelmed by his romantic interest in her, Consuelo fled to France—and Antoine (bearing the gift of a caged puma) quickly followed. This present would prove an apt metaphor for her relationship with the voluble aviator, for Consuelo suffered greatly from the mercurial Antoine’s impulsiveness. Even while Antoine was still deeply in love with her, he always seemed to be on the move, either leaving for one of his flights or uprooting their home and relocating it to some new part of Europe or French West Africa. Finally, after he crashed in Libya and went missing for several days, Consuelo had what can only be described as a nervous breakdown. It was after this that Antoine withdrew emotionally as well as physically from his troubled wife, taking on a mistress and setting up separate homes for himself and Consuelo. Yet he could not bring himself to break completely with his wife, and whenever she seemed on the verge of leaving him for good either circumstance or Antoine himself would conspire to bring her back. He had an endearing childlike wonder at the world around him (matched by an equally childlike selfishness), and he would inevitably repeat his pattern of physical and emotional abandonment upon Consuelo’s returns. This she endured until Antoine disappeared over France during a reconnaissance mission in 1944.
A passionate, dreamlike memoir that draws you into its reverie.Pub Date: July 3, 2001
ISBN: 0-375-50564-4
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2001
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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