Girls Standing On Lawns by Maira Kalman and Daniel Handler (2014, Harry N. Abrams; 64 pages) This is a book composed of 40 vintage photographs from the collection of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and also the exquisite 12 original paintings by Maira Kalman. She looked for inspiration in the photographs that are also treated with love by the lyrical texts of Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket). Girls, women, families, and even pets from days gone by grace the pages, looking out at us, enticing readers to imagine these people, their lives—and where they have gone. I love everything about this book; it is absolutely delightful in its entirety. It's gorgeous visually, poetic, and better yet, thought-provoking. The fact that it gravitates around mementos of girls, women, and pets adds more complexity and value. Worthy. Find this title in our catalog: Girls Standing On Lawns Recommended by: Maite
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The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson (Broadway Books, 2006; 288 pages) Like millions of his generational peers, Bill Bryson grew up with a rich fantasy life as a superhero. In his case, he ran around his house and neighborhood with an old football jersey with a thunderbolt on it and a towel about his neck that served as his cape, leaping tall buildings in a single bound and vanquishing awful evildoers (and morons)—in his head—as "The Thunderbolt Kid." Using this persona as a springboard, Bill Bryson re-creates the life of his family and his native city (Des Moines, Iowa) in the 1950s in all its transcendent normality—a life at once completely familiar to us all and as far away and unreachable as another galaxy. It was, he reminds us, a happy time, when automobiles and televisions and appliances (not to mention nuclear weapons) grew larger and more numerous with each passing year, and DDT, cigarettes, and the fallout from atmospheric testing were considered harmless or even good for you. He brings us into the life of his loving but eccentric family, including affectionate portraits of his father, a gifted sportswriter for the local paper and dedicated practitioner of isometric exercises, and of his mother, whose job as the home furnishing editor for the same paper left her little time for practicing the domestic arts at home. The many readers of Bill Bryson’s earlier classic, A Walk in the Woods, will greet the reappearance in these pages of the immortal Stephen Katz, seen hijacking literally boxcar loads of beer. He is joined in the Bryson gallery of immortal characters by the demonically clever Willoughby brothers, who apply their scientific skills and can-do attitude to gleefully destructive ends. Warm and laugh-out-loud funny, and full of his inimitable, pitch-perfect observations, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is as funny and nostalgic a book as Bill Bryson has ever written. It will enchant anyone who loves Bryson's work, particularly the baby boomers. Find this title in our catalog: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid Recommended by: Greg |
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