THE BEST AMERICAN MAGAZINE WRITING 2005

Name: THE BEST AMERICAN MAGAZINE WRITING 2005
Author: American Society of Magazine Editors
ISBN: 0-231-13781-8

edited by American Society of Magazine Editors ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 2005

The best works of the year, cherry-picked and suitably delicious. The only quibble: Of 17 writers featured, only three are...

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Uniformly excellent collection of the winners and finalists of this year's National Magazine Awards.

For fans of the contemporary essay, 2005, as represented by this collection, was a very good year; ASME's selections are stellar. Predictably, much of the work singled out for recognition could be described as “muscular” journalism, concerned with the American justice system, international conflict, sports, the space program. A particularly searing pair were both published in the New Yorker: Seymour Hersh's painful “Torture at Abu Ghraib” and Samantha Powers's “Dying in Darfur.” American injustice is highlighted in “Innocence Lost,” by Nina Martin, for San Francisco Magazine, and “The Wronged Man,” by Andrew Corsello, for GQ, about the 20-year imprisonment of an innocent man and the roadblocks thrown up by the court system as he worked toward freedom. The scientific sphere is covered by “Home,” published in Esquire, in which Chris Jones writes powerfully of the astronauts who were nearly stranded in space after the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia. Stem-cell research is addressed by James McManus in “Please Stand by While the Age of Miracles Is Briefly Suspended,” for Esquire. New York City gets the nod in Adam Gopnik's “Times Regained,” his thoughts on Times Square, for the New Yorker, and Jed Perl's “Modern Immaturity,” a critique of the new Museum of Modern Art, for The New Republic. There are profiles of two very different men, both equally possessed by their calling: Ned Zeman's “The Man Who Loved Grizzlies,” for Vanity Fair, covers the life and death of Timothy Treadwell, the man who lived among bears in Alaska, and Ian Parker's “The Gift,” for the New Yorker, centers on Zell Kravinsky, a man who wants to give away everything he has, including unnecessary bodily organs.

The best works of the year, cherry-picked and suitably delicious. The only quibble: Of 17 writers featured, only three are female.

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2005

ISBN: 0-231-13781-8

Page Count: 544

Publisher: Columbia Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2005

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BEST AMERICAN MAGAZINE WRITING 2011
by American Society of Magazine Editors

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BEST AMERICAN MAGAZINE WRITING 2008
edited by American Society of Magazine Editors

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BEST AMERICAN MAGAZINE WRITING 2007
edited by American Society of Magazine Editors

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.