THE BEST AMERICAN MAGAZINE WRITING 2007

Name: THE BEST AMERICAN MAGAZINE WRITING 2007
Author: American Society of Magazine Editors
ISBN: 978-0-231-14391-2

edited by American Society of Magazine Editors ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 2007

A brilliant compilation.

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Another year, another exemplary collection of the finest magazine writing in the United States.

This year’s selections include the winners of the National Magazine Awards as well as the competition finalists, who are on par with each other in terms of dexterity and literary impact. Vanessa Grigoriadis ignites the volume with a dazzling—and quite tongue-in-cheek—profile of a fashion icon, “Karl Lagerfeld, Boy Prince of Fashion” (New York Magazine). In “He Knew He Was Right” (the New Yorker), Ian Parker offers a focused look at iconoclastic literary and political critic Christopher Hitchens. Caroline Alexander gives a respectful nod to unrivaled Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner in “Murdering the Impossible” (National Geographic), and Alex Ross pens a stylish appreciation of Wolfgang Mozart in “The Storm of Style” (New Yorker). In what may be the best piece of the bunch, “The Other Side of Hate” (GQ), Andrew Corsello vividly chronicles the unlikely alliance in economically taxed Zimbabwe of Paul Neshangwe, a black preacher, and Jim Steele, a white agronomist. Severity of subject matter is evident in William Langewiesche’s harrowing “Rules of Engagement” (Vanity Fair), about an Iraqi civilian massacre (by U.S. Marine soldiers) in the country’s western city of Haditha. Likewise in C.J. Chivers’s “The School” (Esquire), a breathlessly detailed piece about the 2004 Beslan tragedy. Human-interest writing shines in Susan Casey’s ominous and unsettling report, “Our Oceans Are Turning Into Plastic…Are We?” (Best Life), which documents the discovery and investigation of an enormous floating landfill of plastic waste—the size of Texas—some 800 miles north of Hawaii; and in Janet Reitman’s eye-opening “Inside Scientology” (Rolling Stone).

A brilliant compilation.

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2007

ISBN: 978-0-231-14391-2

Page Count: 448

Publisher: Columbia Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2007

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 2005
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.