An eye-opening look at the news behind the news in America's landmark legal pursuit of Big Tobacco. This well-researched and well-crafted book details exactly how the tobacco industry, which generates about $200 billion a year in revenues and, not insignificantly, is one of the largest political donors, was brought to its knees. Last spring 40 state attorneys general made US history when they announced the first-ever settlement with the heretofore omnipotent tobacco industry. According to the June settlement, the industry will pay $368.5 billion toward smoking-related medical care over the next several years. The settlement also opens the door for Food and Drug Administration regulation of nicotine by 2009 and penalizes the industry if teen smoking doesn't decline. Perhaps most significantly, the settlement marks the first time tobacco executives have openly admitted what the American smoking public has known for years—that tobacco is addictive. Written by members of the original Bloomberg News reporting team that first broke the settlement story (Mollenkamp, Adam Levy, Joseph Menn, Jeffrey Rothfeder), the book weaves together several vital subplots that ultimately made tobacco executives realize that, to paraphrase a once-popular cigarette slogan, it was better to switch their strategies than fight. Confidential records leaks, whistle-blower defections, the reelection of a vocal anti-tobacco president, the hubris of tobacco executives, who outraged Americans by testifying before Congress that tobacco is not addictive—as related here, all these events and more conspired to make tobacco's downfall seem inevitable. The book includes a chronology as well as the official text of the June 20, 1997, settlement. Part thriller, part legal primer, and full of trenchant drama and personalities, this book should be mandatory reading for all congressional representatives pondering how they'll vote on the future of the tobacco industry in America. (16 pages b&w photos)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1998
ISBN: 1-57660-057-2
Page Count: 368
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1997
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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