Novelist Indiana (Gone Tomorrow, 1993, etc.) offers his often spleenful commentary on a variety of political, artistic, and social topics in this collection drawn from the Village Voice and other publications. The most scathing of Indiana's essays tend to have the most entertaining moments. His opening salvo, an excoriation of his home state of New Hampshire on the occasion of its 1992 presidential primary, manages to be hilarious while spraying astonishing quantities of bile: ``Those for whom `Live Free or Die' has traditionally meant dropping out of 10th grade and heading straight for . . . [the] shoe shops, Raytheon, or the mills, feel such depths of cultural inferiority that truly abusive public figures often resonate more winningly with them than reformers and do-gooders.'' An insightful piece on the assisted-suicide trial of Dr. Jack Kevorkian puts the case's moral ambiguities in the context of its truly distasteful cast of characters; ``The Sex Factory'' successfully delves into the romanceless banality of the porno film industry; and the poetic, fragmented ``Death Notices'' captures movingly the horror and grief of AIDS over a decade in the urban arts community. But Indiana's Gonzo Lite pilgrimages to Euro Disney and to Branson, Mo., where he smirks at the double-knits and double chins of Middle American tourists, produce no insights that Hunter S. Thompson didn't have two and a half decades ago (in fact, Thompson's shadow falls over much of the material here). The occasional essays that pad the collection—book, movie, and art reviews—tend toward a generic snappiness, always smart but lacking the individuality of Indiana's first-person reporting. But the controversy over Richard Serra's hideous public sculpture, Tilted Arc, inspires a very funny discussion of censorship and artistic quality. Highly competent, frequently entertaining pieces, but they don't add up to a work of substance.
Pub Date: June 1, 1996
ISBN: 1-85242-332-3
Page Count: 250
Publisher: Serpent’s Tail
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
IN THE NEWS
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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
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