From: Leda Schubert <bobr>
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 17:30:59 -0500

I don't think anybody has mentioned a particular favorite of mine this year: Tobin Anderson's STRANGE MR. SATIE, illustrated by Petra Mathers. I think it is haunting, moving, and peculiarly exhilirating. Anderson's text--short, poetic lines-- does a perfect job of conveying the unusual and childlike quality of Satie's life. I imagine the details Anderson chose to tell about would also be intriguing to children. For example, a description of the artists who hung out at Le Chat Noir: "Some of these people were painters of clowns./Some were inventors of luminous hats/or schemes to cover the oceans with cork/so they could travel/from New York to France." Or the indeed strange quality of his days: "His habits were odd./He wore seven/identical/gray velvet suits/ and that was all./He did not take baths/but scraped himself/with a piece of stone." Mathers has done a brilliant job of creating art that shows both the sadness and the humor of this odd man's world-- objects off- center, Parisian street scenes, eccentric characters. I'm curious to know what others think. Please excuse the cross-posting!
Received on Wed 10 Dec 2003 04:30:59 PM CST