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jenniferdeguzman's reviews
318 reviews
Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn by Donald Spoto
3.0
This was some light reading for me after I took my master's degree comprehensive exams. The author is admiring of his subject and treats her sympathetically, keeping a respectful tone when he describes some of her more questionable habits -- she seemed to have some trouble not falling in love with men when she was already married, for example. Sometimes his use of quotes from interviews with Audrey Hepburn or perhaps from her writing are inserted into the narrative a bit awkwardly -- being an academic, I am accustomed to proper citing of sources, so I wondered where the quotations came from.
The author has a habit of finding fault with nearly every movie Hepburn was in, often in ways that seem irrelevant. I found it laughable that he judged Paris--When It Sizzles to be a superior movie to Breakfast at Tiffany's.
The early chapters that detail Hepburn's experiences in WWII and later chapters that detail Hepburn's involvement withe UNICEF show both the source and results of her humanitarianism and kindness.
The author has a habit of finding fault with nearly every movie Hepburn was in, often in ways that seem irrelevant. I found it laughable that he judged Paris--When It Sizzles to be a superior movie to Breakfast at Tiffany's.
The early chapters that detail Hepburn's experiences in WWII and later chapters that detail Hepburn's involvement withe UNICEF show both the source and results of her humanitarianism and kindness.
Little Star by Andi Watson
4.0
Full disclosure, of course: Andi Watson is a friend and I have worked with him as the editor-in-chief of SLG Publishing, where many of his works have been published.
Andi Watson has that keen gift of depicting life and his characters' struggle to understand it. In this book, Simon is learning to be a father, trying to balance his desire for fulfillment in his work and his family's financial needs with the time he wants to spend with his three-year-old daughter Cassie.
I am not a parent, though of late I've been considering it as I near 30, and Little Star confirms what I suspect -- that the experience is terrifying and exhausting and completely exhilarating at the same time. It's become something of a cliche to write that Andi can depict complex emotions with just a few brush strokes, but that is because it's true. His art has a richness that the word "minimalist" doesn't capture. He knows how to distill expressions to their essence, to frame events with emotional significance, and above all, to tell a good, subtle and quiet story.
Andi Watson has that keen gift of depicting life and his characters' struggle to understand it. In this book, Simon is learning to be a father, trying to balance his desire for fulfillment in his work and his family's financial needs with the time he wants to spend with his three-year-old daughter Cassie.
I am not a parent, though of late I've been considering it as I near 30, and Little Star confirms what I suspect -- that the experience is terrifying and exhausting and completely exhilarating at the same time. It's become something of a cliche to write that Andi can depict complex emotions with just a few brush strokes, but that is because it's true. His art has a richness that the word "minimalist" doesn't capture. He knows how to distill expressions to their essence, to frame events with emotional significance, and above all, to tell a good, subtle and quiet story.