An elegy for the city that once was ridiculed as the mecca of mellow and is now ridiculed as the capital of free-floating hostility. Los Angeles Times columnist Martinez applies wit, compassion, and a thorough knowledge of the turf to a mostly predictable series of subjects, including gangs, crime, health nuts, fires, earthquakes, bizarre architecture, celebrities, and the ``abused, downtrodden, miserable San Fernando Valley,'' which produces 80 percent of America's adult videos within the ruins of the model family-oriented suburb. A minor flaw is that the reader is constantly reminded of the author's day job: The book is written in short, punchy passages, and the insights are sharper than they are deep. But Martinez offers keen studies of, among other topics, the reptilian morality of the television industry (for which he has written), the bland corruption of local politics, and the inner city that lies a universe away from the Hollywood dream factory. ``So many of the young men of the 'hood have died in violence,'' he writes, ``that it is no longer a single reportable statistic, but a sadness that overlays the black ghetto like a mist of grief.'' Martinez is especially good on the Rodney King riots, the fate of the hapless streets on which the freeways have been brutally built, the blasÇ silliness of the star-studded Malibu beach community, and Angelenos' reaction to a naked woman striding down a busy thoroughfare (indifference, except for those drivers who curse her for delaying the commute). The great unanswered question Martinez raises about L.A. is why anyone, himself included, would continue to live there. This ``drive-by portrait'' is a good ride.
Pub Date: March 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-312-13944-6
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
