A representative selection of Lincoln Kirstein's written work, with brief introductions by the editor. ``People have trouble figuring out who I am,'' Jenkins quotes Kirstein. ``They can't make out if I'm a P.R. man for the City Ballet, or if it was all some kind of accident, or if I'm just a rich boy who tagged along.'' Kirstein is, of course, the ``visionary patrician who brought George Balanchine to the United States'' and who co-founded the New York City Ballet. He was also, Jenkins points out, a force in founding the Museum of Modern Art; has been involved in theater, history, and music; is an art collector and enthusiast, ex-literary editor, published essayist and poet. Jenkins and Kirstein have arranged these wide-ranging—in both time and subject—selections into five sections: personal essays and memoirs; dances; photography and painting; film, literature, and theater; and individuals. Thus we can sample Kirstein on everything from the historical development of classical ballet to Marilyn Monroe: ``Extravagant claims need not be made for her capacities as the complete actress; she never had the chance to develop them. But as a classic comedienne of grace, delicacy, and happy wonder, she certainly has had no peer since Billie Burke or Ina Claire.'' Most of this material has been previously published elsewhere, and Jenkins's introductory and biographical notes are brief. But for those intrigued by the range of Kirstein's interests, this is a fine introductory volume.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-374-18765-7
Page Count: 488
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
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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