Sandwiched between opening and closing comments from the Dalai Lama, this spiritual biography of the Buddha imparts the major events of Siddhartha’s journey to enlightenment with a combination of stylized prose—“At a time when the oldest Bodhi trees in Asia were still in youthful bloom, Queen Maya had a dream”—and equally stylized images of the large-eyed, long-eared holy man surrounded by silver beaded spirals and lotus flowers. Not so grand, nor so rich in detail, as Demi’s version (1996), this still makes a suitable brief introduction to the origins, ideals and spirit of Buddhism. (sideways format, historical afterword) (Picture book/biography. 8-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2005
ISBN: 0-89346-946-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2005
Categories: GENERAL BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A ``First Book'' that introduces the pioneer behind the Red Cross Blood Bank. Wolfe sketches Drew's life as an athletic achiever, hard-pressed medical student, and distinguished researcher, teacher, and leader of his profession—an African American who battled racist restrictions with unyielding dignity. The result is a fairly well-rounded but unfocused portrait, limited by a lackluster style and infelicitous format in which the gratuitously tinted photos are captioned in the same type as the text. Although books on Drew are needed, this is marginal. Brief bibliography of dated and/or secondary sources; index.~(Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: March 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-531-20021-3
Page Count: 64
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1991
Categories: BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
Did you like this book?
A quirky inside portrait of brotherhood within the “insane Hollywood system.”
Marx, Coen, Farrelly. Add to that list the Duplass brothers, who have been carving out a place for themselves as writers, directors, producers, and actors (Mark in The League, Jay in Transparent, etc.). In her foreword to this jumpy, eclectic collection of odds and ends, Mindy Kaling writes that the brothers are funny, “woke as hell,” and have a “tireless entrepreneurial spirit that inspires.” The brothers write that the book is “filled with essays on all kinds of things,” which isn’t exactly true. There are some—e.g., a short piece on why the band Air Supply is so good or the value of The Karate Kid Part II (even though “there are so many things wrong with this movie”)—but mostly this is a hodgepodge of autobiographical sketches, lists of favorite movies (actually the same list slightly edited over and over), emails, rough screenplays, advice to young filmmakers, Mark’s short story “The Blowjob,” edited by Jay, comments from their wives, and “Airport” 1-5, in which the brothers make up filmic scenarios inspired by the people they see walking and sitting about. We learn that they grew up outside New Orleans and had great boyhoods. Creative and ambitious kids, they played around with a video recorder their father gave them and started writing little scenarios and filming them. In 1996, they started Duplass Brothers Productions and got to work. We follow them in action as they fail (Vince del Rio) and succeed (Cyrus). They made The Puffy Chair for $10,000 and premiered it at the Sundance Film Festival. Other successes followed, including HBO’s Togetherness series (2015), until cancelled, and Room 104 (2017).
A rather chaotic and messy tale of talent, determination, and success in the world of independent film and TV that hardcore fans will enjoy.Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-101-96771-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Dec. 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
Did you like this book?
© Copyright 2022 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
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.
