Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 2, 1993 TAG: 9305020217
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: F-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Reviewed by CHRISTOPHER LEE PHILIPS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Thomas Mallon's writing is of the sort any wanna-be literary stylist would envy - simply crafted, eloquently wrought reflections of life observed; testaments to the effects of life experienced. In his new collection, the Gentleman's Quarterly editor reports on scenes from the heartlands with the vigor of an outdoorsman and the eye of a curator.
The result is a collection of essays that revel in the glory and humility of contemporary Americana.
In "Travels with my Veep," Mallon briefly follows the itinerary of then Vice President Dan Quayle with breakfast on Air Force Two, a visit to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and a little golf, while we're at it. Summing up the experience and the vice president, Mallon observes that "Dan Quayle is no Dan Quayle."
In "Rex Harrison: Bidding Goodbye," Mallon covers the auction at New York's William Doyle Galleries on the Upper East Side, where the late entertainer's possessions are sold to the highest bidder. A bidding war ensues over an inscribed shaving mug. A lot including some stage makeup and Harrison's toupee produces a less than enthusiastic sale.
One of Harrison's paintings, Beach Scene, is accidently held upside down as bidding begins. According to Mallon, the paintings are rather disappointing. "It's true that they're pretty awful: in this geriatric field Harrison was no Winston Churchill."
Mallon's cultural reporting is a precious commodity in American journalism, a fact to which "Rockets and Rodeos" provides a dozen testimonies.
Christopher Lee Philips is a Washington, D.C., writer.
by CNB