Encyclopedia of the Exquisite
Jessica Kerwin Jenkins
book reviews:
· general fiction
· chick lit/romance
· sci-fi/fantasy
· graphic novels
· nonfiction
· audio books

Click here for the curledup.com RSS Feed

· author interviews
· children's books @
   curledupkids.com
· DVD reviews @
   curledupdvd.com

newsletter
win books
buy online
links

home

for authors
& publishers


for reviewers

click here to learn more




Buy *Encyclopedia of the Exquisite: An Anecdotal History of Elegant Delights* by Jessica Kerwin Jenkins online

Encyclopedia of the Exquisite: An Anecdotal History of Elegant Delights
Jessica Kerwin Jenkins
Nan A. Talese
Hardcover
336 pages
November 2010
rated 4 of 5 possible stars

buy this book now or browse millions of other great products at amazon.com
previous reviewnext review

In her introduction, author Jessica Kerwin Jenkins refers to her collection of encyclopedia entries as “why I like it here.” Everything she writes about inside this tome “lit a spark” or “excited intense delight” in her.

Arranged alphabetically, each two-to-four page entry contains interesting bits of historical information. The word yes has a long history, but the author focuses on the 1960s and how the word brought John Lennon and Yoko Ono together. Jenkins’ “love notes” entry is dedicated to the 1,162 love notes exchanged between Catherine the Great and Prince Grigory Potemkin in the late 1700s.

The author read extensively (as seen in the bibliography) to find interesting quotes for her book. The Kumari entry contains quotes from Rashmila Shakya about her experience being a living goddess of Nepal. The author also gives examples of many well-known people throughout history who shared her passions. Harry Houdini and Count Leo Tolstoy both enjoyed the Japanese art of folding paper. Houdini wrote a 1922 book entitled Houdini’s Paper Magic about origami, and one of Tolstoy’s folded-paper birds still exists in a museum near his family estate.

This is not a colorful, visual encyclopedia, but some of the entries are supplemented with recipes, others with monochrome illustrations. The ornate decorations featured on the cover of the encyclopedia complement the designs appearing alongside the page numbers and entry headings. While some of the entries (sequins, confetti, silence) are obvious examples of the exquisite (characterized in this case as luxuries that don’t require much spending), others are unexpected (lightning, string, the Bob). The author defines unfamiliar entries (xenia, ruff and cravat and thaumatrope) briefly under the headings and lists her sources for each entry in the bibliography located at the back of the book. This personalized encyclopedia is quite entertaining, especially the pages about faux jewels and sotelties.

Jessica Kerwin Jenkins has worked as an editor at several magazines. Today she writes for Vogue.



Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book at www.curledup.com. © Tanya Boudreau, 2011

buy *Encyclopedia of the Exquisite: An Anecdotal History of Elegant Delights* online
click here for more info
Click here to learn more about this month's sponsor!


fiction · sf/f · comic books · nonfiction · audio
newsletter · free book contest · buy books online
review index · links · · authors & publishers
reviewers

site by ELBO Computing Resources, Inc.