A throwaway line from an essay on amnesia sums up this standout collection: “I followed the higher principle of pleasure,...
One of America’s most accomplished writers looks back between the pages of other writers' books.
Lethem (A Gambler’s Anatomy, 2016, etc.) is no stranger to books, between working in bookstores and writing regularly about them for venues like the New Yorker and Harper’s. Here, novelist Boucher (Golden Delicious, 2016, etc.) fondly curates a thoughtful and often sly collection of Lethem’s thoughts on books, films, and other works of art culled from the past two decades. The essays, reviews, and other ephemera are divided into sections, ranging from “Engulf and Devour” (books in the literary canon) to “Lost Worlds” (long-lost gems). One of the delights is Lethem’s personal voice, often laced with arch humor but absent the jarring postmodern irony that sometimes marks writers at McSweeney’s. The author also lacks literary pretension, tackling titans like Kafka, Melville, and Dickens but also penning tributes to Rod Serling and Batman. There are affectionate pieces about Walter Tevis’ obscure sci-fi novel Mockingbird (1980) and the late novelist Thomas Berger. Occasionally, there’s self-conscious commentary, as in Lethem’s footnote on Kazuo Ishiguro in which he admits he’s embarrassed by some of these pieces. He also offers a wonderful triptych of stories about Philip K. Dick, whom Lethem dubs a “necessary writer, in the someone-would-have-had-to-invent-him sense…American Literature’s Lenny Bruce.” There are some strange experiments—e.g., a feature written entirely in footnotes, the last of which reads “I’m not making any of this fucking shit up.” Another imagines an interview between the director Spike Jonze and the fictional character Perkus Tooth from Lethem’s Chronic City (2009). Fans may also enjoy Lethem’s encounters with writers he admires, ranging from affectionate memories of Philip Roth to a caustic encounter with Anthony Burgess.
A throwaway line from an essay on amnesia sums up this standout collection: “I followed the higher principle of pleasure, tried to end where I’d started: with writing I loved and wanted to recommend to someone else. That is to say, you.”Pub Date: March 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61219-603-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Melville House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
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
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
