Marian Hoffman (2)

I have mixed feelings about the author's decision to focus so much on Norman Rockwell's more obscure illustrations, when Rockwell has created so many classic works of art that center on childhood. Still, I have most of those in other collections, and there are some of the afore-mentioned classics here. "Before the Shot" is one such classic, with the small boy nervously scanning the doctor's framed diploma on the wall before his shot. "Day in the Life of a Little Boy" and "Day in the Life of a Little Girl" are both delights. The accompanying prose seems to be a journal of the author's own growing up, matched to fit the illustration subjects. I glossed over them; the draw is Rockwell's art.… (mehr)

Either Norman Rockwell didn't particularly extend himself in portraying American sports, or the editor made some lackluster choices. Virtually every American sport is portrayed here, with a short accompanying blurb. Baseball predominates. The only two that moved me at all were "Cheerleaders" (1957), which shows the utter shock and devastation of a trio of high school basketball cheerleaders after a close loss, and "Red Sox Locker Room", also 1957, in which a raw-boned rookie is given the once-over by the veterans in the Red Sox locker room.… (mehr)