This anthology of paranormal and weird hypotheses double-jumps all across the Cosmic Game board with a lot of "childlike capacity for fantasy." "Truth is fiction" in the editors' ontology of things and what does it matter if "one can get lost in imagination"? By the evidence of Timothy Leary's contribution here on Extraterrestrial Intelligence, it must be true what they say about his LSD aftereffects. Nada-Yolanda, another blown mind, reinterprets the Bible as an account of a tribe from Lake Tahoe. A UFO-watcher answers the pressing question: "Where is Heaven?" D. Scott Rogo and Yogi Ramacharaka take off into the astral plane. Then there's more on the godhead, "hypnogogic" states, Atlantis, the mystery of the Rosetta Stone and other popular superstitions. A bit of this, a pinch of that, toads' eyes and bat brains.
Pub Date: June 6, 1975
ISBN: 0385064489
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1975
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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