(4 of 5)
Constructivism has nothing—well, almost nothing—to do with the power of positive thinking. It is an art movement concerned with the pure joy derived from geometric structure and line. Thus, Piet Mondrian's fleshless, vertical-horizontal paintings qualify, but, according to the author, the mobiles of Kineticist Alexander Calder do not ("too lyrical and subjective"). The style can be seen in the U.S. in the symmetrical paintings of Josef Albers and Frank Stella, and in some of the space sculptures of men like Richard Lippold. George Rickey writes with clarity and spirit, and his opinions and knowledge reflect the experience to be expected in a leading creator of moving sculpture.
THE CONNOISSEUR'S COOKBOOK by Robert Carrier. 505 pages. Random House. $15.
Just the thing for people who like to read cookbooks in bed. The text is so luxuriously arranged and the color photographs are so tempting that some remarkable culinary dreams should result. Tested in the kitchen, the recipes (pheasant mousse, sole and crayfish tarts) should prove just as irresistible, with a little luck. Note: quaint but regrettably euphelingual is the author's description of a celebrated American dish as Oeufs Benedictine.
ALEXIS LICHINE'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WINES AND SPIRITS. 713 pages. Knopf. $15.
"For the fortunate one owning a large cellar, it would be wise to have the bottles recorked every 25 to 30 years. This is the maximum expected lifespan of a good cork." Care of the cork is only one of the many fine points explored in this exhaustive and literate treatise on the choice, care and consumption of the principal wines of France, Germany, Italy, the U.S., and the rest of the world. For example, one should serve champagne in tulip-shaped rather than the more familiar wide glasses. And those who use swizzle sticks to defizz their champagne are not to be tolerated. "People who do not care for bubbles would do better to order a still champagne to begin with."
Under $15
THE PLAYERS by Tex Mau/e. 238 pages. New American Library. $15.
Through nine years of professional football, the great running back Jim Brown never suffered a serious leg injury. He did it, reports SPORTS ILLUSTRATED Senior Editor Tex Maule, by keeping his feet close to the ground while he ran, eschewing the fancy high knee action of many another runner. To Quarterback Norman Van Brocklin, there was an even better way to stay healthy: not run at all. "A quarterback should only run through sheer terror," is his advice. Whatever their personal credos, the football pros are a unique, often amusing bunch, as demonstrated by this informed, dramatically illustrated story of how the game is played.
GREAT ART TREASURES IN AMERICA'S SMALLER MUSEUMS by the editors of Country Beautiful. 194 pages. Pufnam. $12.95.
Outside the major metropolitan museums lie many imposing works of art—Sargent's vibrantly Andalusian El Jaleo in Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Inness' muted landscape Winter Morning, Montclair in the Montclair, N.J., Art Museum, Utrillo's gouache Eglise de St. Bernard in the University of Arizona Art Gallery, or any other of the 200 here. Text by the University of Chicago's Harold Haydon.