But there’s no need to quibble. This is fine, fine reading.
The well-known poet and memoirist presents the 16th installment in this flawless series.
Last year’s millennial edition may have been the best ever. Edited by Alan Lightman, it took a philosophical turn, pondering 21st-century issues of technology and dehumanization; particularly striking were Andrew Sullivan’s wrenching essay on hate crimes and Wendell Berry’s passionate case for small farms. Under Norris’s guidance, the new compendium is more literary, with an evident preference for creative nonfiction. Jeffrey Heiman’s “Vin Laforge,” about a little town in the Berkshires as seen through one old man’s memories, could as easily be called a short story—a sly essay of the kind Ring Lardner might have written. The same is true of Yusef Komunyakaa’s “Blue Machinery of Summer,” a Vietnam veteran’s reminiscences of the factory jobs he held upon his return from the war. Eight out of 26 pieces are from only two publications, The American Scholar and the perennially dominating New Yorker. One of the selections from the latter may be the best of the best: Marcus Laffey’s broodingly ironic essay on police work in the Bronx after midnight, “The Midnight Tour.” The star-author entry is also from the New Yorker, Stephen King’s “On Impact,” about the his accident while jogging (he was hit by a van) and difficult recovery. There’s some literary criticism—James Campbell’s entertaining snippet on Robert Louis Stevenson as a travel-writer—and a roundup of grief literature, including “The Work of Mourning,” Francine Du Plessix Gray’s meditation on the death of her father. Though William T. Vollman plays with form a bit (“Upside Down and Backward”), these are mostly traditional essays. In the current fashion, they shy away from grandiose pronouncements and booming conclusions.
But there’s no need to quibble. This is fine, fine reading.Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-15358-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2001
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
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
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