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TWILIGHT OR DAWN?

Name: TWILIGHT OR DAWN?
Author: Bill Stonebarger
ISBN: 978-1559791953

A TRAVELER'S GUIDE TO FREE-MARKET LIBERAL DEMOCRACY

by Bill Stonebarger ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2012

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As various challenges confront nations around the world, Stonebarger offers his personal take on our society’s past, present and future, focusing on the intersection of the economic, political and cultural.

Stonebarger’s major assertion is that the most successful, everlasting system in our global history is what he terms “free-market liberal democracy,” which, going forward, will bring worldwide prosperity if and when more nations adopt the system for themselves. He breaks down free-market liberal democracy into three tenets—capitalism, (humanistic) religion and science and technology. As he explores these three pillars, the author compares each to what he believes are their biggest threats—communistic ideology and politics, radical Islam and radical environmentalism (problematic, he asserts, because it includes some extreme adherents who insist society revert to a simpler life in order to avoid global ecological catastrophe as well as counsel against certain pathways of innovation). A common thread throughout the book is the distinction between “win-win” and “zero-sum” transactions, wherein the former benefits both parties, while the latter only benefits one. Stonebarger concludes, perhaps a bit too idealistically, that free-market liberal democracy is a win-win structure that ensures a free, capitalistic, compassionate and healthy society. The author’s conversational tone and style lends itself well to his topic. The book could be improved by an analytically tighter, more reasoned thesis, as competing—stretching, at times head-achingly, into contradictory—conclusions often appear. A stronger execution would cut down on repetition and allow for an overall more engaging narrative arc. It is quite surprising, given the subject, that there is little discussion of the current state of financial affairs in the United States and abroad; Stonebarger’s perspective, as someone who has lived through several major historical events since the Great Depression, allows him the opportunity to make firsthand observations and possibly clarify his premise and positions through real-world contexts. A treatise uniquely suited for an ideologically and politically likeminded audience, though oddly out of touch with recent game-changing global events.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2012

ISBN: 978-1559791953

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Gilman Street

Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2011

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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SUMMER ISLAND

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2001

The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...

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Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.

Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.

The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.

Pub Date: March 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-609-60737-5

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

by Harper Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1960

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A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.