A miscellaneous collection of nonfiction that will do little to enhance Doctorow's reputation as a writer. Almost all of the book reviews, speeches, introductions, and political commentaries included here were solicited by editors, and seem relatively uninspired. Doctorow's literary criticism is casual to a fault, revealing a not-surprising affinity for the social realism of "hack genius" Jack London, the materialist vision of Dreiser, and the antistatist satire of Orwell. Doctorow celebrates the signs of incipient feminism in Hemingway's unfinished Garden of Eden and shares Papa's monosyllabic style ("His stuff was new. It moved). A fierce if unoriginal critic of the Reagan years, he relies on boilerplate polemics: His Reagan-bashing profile is stale, and his Brandeis commencement speech makes a facile link between social decline and Reaganomics. His introduction to the Constitution as "the sacred text of secular humanism" is reader-friendly, but his bloated declaration of "The Beliefs of Writers" too readily accepts and expands Shelley's conceit that "poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world." Doctorow is much better—more in tune with his fictive voice—when he writes around a topic: His meditative re-creation of 19th-century Manhattan's sights and sounds is hypnotizing; an essay on "standard" songs demonstrates a true feeling for the culturally ephemeral; a memoir of poet James Wright and the Fifties at Kenyon is both moving and clearheaded. And "False Documents" should be read by anyone interested in Doctorow's use of history in fiction—it's the closest thing to a defense of his method as we're likely to get. Fourteen fugitive pieces by a major novelist deserve some attention, if only to illuminate his far superior fiction.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0060976365
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 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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