Fireworks. A History and Celebration.
Full details
| Authors & editors | |
| Publisher | Doubleday & Co |
| Year of publication | 1984 |
| Languages | |
| Medium | Book |
| Edition | 1 |
| ISBN | 0385154143 |
| Topics | |
| Tags | |
| Scope & content | Fireworks mean celebration in any language. They herald coronations, inaugurations, royal weddings, jubilees, and glorious beginnings. There is something magical about the explosion of color and sound against the night sky, for it never fails to exhilarate anyone who is young- or young at heart. Literary lion George Plimpton set off his first "snake in the grass" at age ten. He has been beguiled by skyrockets, girandoles, Roman candles, pinwheels. sparklers and maroons ever since. Fireworks, illustrated with over one hundred color and black-and-white photographs is a lavish, entertaining and fact-filled exultation of his lifelong fascination with man's rivals to the stars. Anyone with a predilection for pyrotechnics will enjoy George Plimpton's lively account of its history, its legendary aficionados- Louis XIV, Peter the Great, Charles V- and his engaging profiles with families who dominate the fireworks field today, like New Yorks's Grucci clan and Japan's Ogatsu dynasty. At a convention of "basement bombers," the industry's nickname for amateurs, we meet a marvelous assortment of enthusiasts. including a Lutheran minister dubbed the "Blaster Pastor" who punctuates his sermons with homemade fireworks. From Minnesota to Monte-Carlo, George Plimpton describes every major fireworks festival. And, for those who do not know a cherry bomb from a Catherine wheel, he provides a glossary of terms. George Plimpton's eloquence and urbane wit are surpassed only by his enthusiasm; twice he has tried to launch the world's largest firework. |
Copies held
Accession no. 231971
- Shelf location: K250-PLI
- Donor: Alan and Glenys Crocker