Bruce Handy is currently a contributing editor of Vanity Fair. A former writer and editor at Spy and Time, his articles, essays, reviews, and humor pieces have appeared in such publications as The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, New York magazine, Rolling Stone, Vogue, The Village Voice, and The New Yorker. Handy was nominated for an Emmy in 1993 as a member of Saturday Night Live’s writing staff. He won a GLAAD Award in 1998 for his “Yep I’m Gay” Time cover profile of Ellen DeGeneres. At Vanity Fair, he has written on topics and personalities as diverse as Mad Men, Amy Schumer, film composer John Barry, PeeWee Herman, Miley Cyrus, the J.T. Leroy hoax, Cinerama, and the history of flight attendants. A native of California and a graduate of Stanford University, Handy lives in Manhattan with his wife, novelist Helen Schulman, and their two children. Wild Things is his first book.
“A terrific rumpus of a journey into the world of illustrated and
young reader classics . . . Wild Things makes a convincing case for
reading children’s books as an adult.” —The A.V. Club
“A charming, discursive encounter with classic children’s
literature from the perspective of a parent . . . Mr. Handy writes
with zip, sincerity, and good humor. . . For parents who are
embarking on this phase of rediscovery, for those in the thick of
it, and for those for whom it is a warm and recent memory, Wild
Things will be a delightful excursion. . . . It is also engaging
and full of genuine feeling, and I liked it very much.” —Meghan Cox
Gurdon, The Wall Street Journal
“Consistently intelligent and funny . . . The book succeeds
wonderfully. . . . The Handy children’s appearances are brief but
disproportionately memorable. Just as almost all kids’ books, with
their frequent appearances by talking animals, are part emotional
masquerade, Wild Things, too, is in disguise. It reads as a
companionable romp through all the stories you sometimes tire of
reading to your own children. But like The Runaway Bunny, it’s
really a gently obsessive tale, a man gathering up so many words
and ideas as if to create a magical stay against his own children
growing up.” —Rivka Galchen, The New York Times Book Review
“Nothing less than a Golden Ticket into the Whipple-Scrumptious
world of children’s classics, where mystical and marvelous
surprises await . . . Literary criticism through the prism of
memoir, Wild Things is a read—a ride!—of pure pleasure.” —Vanity
Fair
“Wild Things is relaxed, discursive, and personal. . . . The result
is very pleasing to read. . . . Handy quotes liberally from each
book he admires, and he curates those passages beautifully,
allowing readers both literary pleasure and a kind of time travel.
His analyses are affectionate and often eccentric. He’s got a
magpie’s eye for odd and shiny details. . . . His foray into
children’s literature allowed him more than a simple chance to
re-encounter the favorite books of his youth. It allowed him the
chance to hold close his children’s younger selves. ‘By one
measure, I suppose,’ he writes, ‘you are holding in your hands a
work of sublimated grief.’ How beautiful, and how painful, and how
incontrovertibly true.” —The New York Times
“A clear-eyed and often hilarious deep dive into some old standbys
of children’s literature. Though it would be easy to fall into
either rapture or diatribe, Handy treats his literary subjects like
family members, with admiration and infuriation and love. He’s a
perceptive and affable close reader.” —USA Today
“Delightful . . . Ranging from Goodnight Moon to Charlotte’s Web,
Handy cogently captures each book’s artistic and emotional
qualities while deftly placing it in cultural and historical
context.” —Newsday
“Witty and engaging . . . Inspired by reading to his own kids,
Handy’s brief but deeply satisfying survey of children’s literature
marries curiosity, humor, and downright excitement. . . . Wild
Things showcases the universality of children’s literature, the
best of which inspires readers of all ages.” —Samantha Bronkar, The
Christian Science Monitor
“Rollicking and razor sharp, consistently engaging, always on
point, and packed with history, theory, and humor . . . Highly
recommended for anyone who reads—or has read—children’s
literature.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“Highly engaging . . . The author demonstrates a deep love of
children’s literature and a keen understanding of the ways in
which reapproaching beloved texts can highlight the connections and
differences between a child’s perception and adult reality. As
well-researched as it is seamlessly composed, this book entertains
as it educates.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Catnip to lovers of children’s literature and a cordial invitation
to strangers to that world to discover what they’ve been missing .
. . One of the very best books of its sort in, well, ever. Encore!
Encore!” —Booklist (starred review)
“A spirited, perceptive, and just outright funny account of
reading childhood favorites through adult eyes . . . Handy’s
breezy, friendly style lends the book a bright feeling, as of old
friends discussing old friends, and this book will surely leave its
readers with a new appreciation for childhood
favorites.” —Publishers Weekly
“In Wild Things, Bruce Handy offers a rousing and nostalgic romp
through the classics of children’s literature from the latter half
of the 20th century, from Goodnight Moon to Ramona to The Lion, the
Witch and the Wardrobe. Clearly passionate about his topic, Handy
dives into the context of the publication of these books with
enthusiasm and verve. . . . This is a compulsively readable and
entertaining collection of essays that will take readers back, in
the best sense, to books they may have nearly forgotten but will
delight in remembering.” —Bookpage (starred review)
“From the moment I picked up Wild Things, I couldn’t put it down—I
only wish the book were ten times longer. It was a joy to learn
more about so many of my favorite masterpieces of children’s
literature.” —Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project
“Brilliant, revelatory, and endlessly entertaining. I’ve read these
books a thousand times, but only now do I finally understand
them.” —Lev Grossman, author of the Magicians trilogy
“A wonderfully entertaining tour of a dozen gems from Goodnight
Moon to Charlotte’s Web. Full of humor and insight, Wild
Things in its evocation of our young reading lives is also as
poignant as some of the masterpieces it celebrates. I loved
it.” —Ann Packer, author of The Dive from Clausen’s Pier
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