A sentimental and disappointing portrait of the tribe of men and women who work with their hands. In her first nonfiction book, Smiley (Barn Blind, 1980; At Paradise Gate, 1981; Duplicate Keys, 1984) displays a fiction writer's relish for the details of craft. She is at her best when describing Howard Bartholomew chiselling an acanthus leaf on a lowboy, or Michael Buyer trimming a ceramic pot, or John Hoeko plucking a feather from a gamecock neck to make a dry fly. But except for a few vivid descriptions, her book has little to offer. It's not a study of the crafts movement in the Catskills in the 1980's nor a history of crafts in the Catskills, nor a personal narrative of the author's discovery of handiwork. What it is, Smiley writes, is "a sort of friendship quilt." This verbal "quilt" is made up of sketches of 15 artisans, with each "patch" re-creating different aspects of a craftsman's life and work: the problems of making a living as an artisan, the question of art vs. craft, the history of a particular craft, the personal life of the artists. All of these "patches" when put together are supposed to offer a "picture of the way some people are living, and earning a living, in a particular place at a particular time." Unfortunately, in this paean to the near-religious experience of handicrafts (sewing "is a kind of physically paced meditation not much different from purely spiritual meditation"), Smiley fails to give her subject an intellectual shape and indulges in some rather trite general observations. Here, Smiley's words seem ultimately little more than lengthy captions for the book's 50 photographs.
Pub Date: Dec. 23, 1987
ISBN: 0517567008
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1987
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
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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