107 replies to this topic

[melange]

Neryssa, on 02 March 2011 - 02:21 PM, said:

**Spoiler alert** There is a lengthy excerpt on Balanchine's funeral at:  http://hereandnow.wb...damboise-dancer

Thank you for drawing our attention to that excerpt, Neryssa - it's convinced me to buy the book.  The description of Frances Schreuder's presence at the funeral and burial was positively surreal; if the rest of the book is this vivid, it ought to be a page turner.

[sidwich]

Jacques d'Amboise is also speaking at the Los Angeles Downtown library on April 20th.  Tickets are free with a reservation:  http://www.lfla.org/...acques-DAmboise

[MakarovaFan]

sidwich, on 09 March 2011 - 12:29 AM, said:

Jacques d'Amboise is also speaking at the Los Angeles Downtown library on April 20th.  Tickets are free with a reservation:  http://www.lfla.org/...acques-DAmboise

Thanks for the heads up about the new book.  I ran into Mr. D'Amboise last summer at Osipova's debut in Don Q at ABT.  I said "Hi" to him and we had the nicest conversation.  He was so excited about Osipova's dancing and his enthusiasm was infectious.  Can't wait to read the book.

[ViolinConcerto]

New review in the Christian Science Monitor.  She's very enthused.



(Sorry for my original entry saying it was from the WSJ)

Edited by ViolinConcerto, 11 March 2011 - 09:02 AM.

[Barbara]

I just received my copy of I Was A Dancer ordered through the Amazon link here. The pages are cut in such a way that some pages are wider than others - I bet there's a bookbinding term for this but I don't know it. Anyway a small number of the wider-sized pages are extra wide, almost as if they are not fully bound - yet they do not seem loose. I'm tempted to return the book but I want to start reading today! Have any of you found this in your book?

[rg]

i'm not sure how extreme the arrangement seems to you, but my copy of this book is similarly bound, and as you suspect there is likely a bookbinding term for this - if mem. serves it is a 'style' often chosen for Knopf books. I believe Kirstein's NEW YORK CITY BALLET - THIRTY YEARS, among countless other hardcover titles, is so produced.
i think this 'style' makes for an easier time when flipping through the books pages.
i don't think returning the book was gain you, in replacement, something very different, unless as i say, your edition is an extreme version of this method of book production.

[Quiggin]

The bookbinding term is deckle edged - to make the book look as if the reader had cut open the pages of a freshly bound book her- or himself. Nice article by C. Max Magee which quotes Italo Calvino on the process:

"The volume's pages are uncut: a first obstacle opposing your impatience. Armed with a good paper knife, you prepare to penetrate its secrets."

webpage is www.millions.com; 5 February 2010: Deckled pages in the age ...

[Barbara]

Fascinating, Quiggin - I learn something new every day at Ballet Alert - thank you and rg too! My personal preference is "smooth" (non-deckled?)edges. One sharp exacto knife, a son with a steady hand and problem solved. Now, on to the reading....

[bart]

Barbara, on 23 March 2011 - 12:35 PM, said:

My personal preference is "smooth" (non-deckled?)edges. One sharp exacto knife, a son with a steady hand and problem solved. Now, on to the reading....

I bought a collection of old books years agowithout knowing that most of them had uncut, or partially uncut,  pages.  I did have a paper knife (a.k.a. sharp letter opener) but not, alas, anyone with a "steady hand" to do the work for me  Many were the odd-sized pages.  But I still have the books.  

Llke you, I've ordered d'Amboise's book from the Amazon link on Ballet Alert.  It hasn't arrived yet.  I'm less worried about the paper edges than about the quality of the photos.  The cost-cutting trend in publishing is to print photos on pages with text -- i.e., on non-glossy paper.  It's a development I am having a hard time getting used to. Here's hoping that d'Amboise's publishers have taken the old-fashioned route on this.

[Barbara]

I'm afraid you'll be disappointed, Bart. Photos are on the text pages.

[Leigh Witchel]

Reading an older friend's report on hearing d'Amboise speak, another friend wrote her, livid. She was there at some events d'Amboise describes (a trip to Paris, I believe) and her recollection of it is completely different than his.

It sounds like d'Amboise may be like Arthur Mitchell - a great raconteur, but I'd double check everything.

[dirac]

That's true of most memoirs. I'm very much looking forward to this one.

Quote

I'm less worried about the paper edges than about the quality of the photos. The cost-cutting trend in publishing is to print photos on pages with text -- i.e., on non-glossy paper.

It's not always a cost-cutting measure. Sometimes it's chosen deliberately so that photographs of people and places are seen in context as they're being discussed, not cordoned off into a stand alone section. It can work well.

[bart]

Leigh Witchel, on 23 March 2011 - 07:08 PM, said:

Reading an older friend's report on hearing d'Amboise speak, another friend wrote her, livid. She was there at some events d'Amboise describes (a trip to Paris, I believe) and her recollection of it is completely different than his.

It sounds like d'Amboise may be like Arthur Mitchell - a great raconteur, but I'd double check everything.

This reminds me of a comment Federico Fellini is said to have made  about the autobiographical elements in films like Amarcord.  It went something like this:  When it comes to memory, imagination and telling a good story are more important than  accuracy.  (Think Proust, rather than Pepys.)

For memoirs, however, or history ... I'm not so sure.  Anyway, I'm still looking forward to spending some hours with d'Amboise, when the book arrives.

[dirac]

People remember different events in different ways in all sincerity, and there's not always a record to check. A good story isn't necessarily a false one, and it can be true in spirit even if the details are off.

[richard53dog]

dirac, on 25 March 2011 - 06:01 AM, said:

People remember different events in different ways in all sincerity, and there's not always a record to check. A good story isn't necessarily a false one, and it can be true in spirit even if the details are off.

That's all very true and I've seen this kind of varied recollection from different parties at the same event.

To add to the mix, sometimes there are tiny details that were visible to one party and not the other that shaped thier perceptions.

This is very often the case of no one is right and no one is wrong!