Given the title here, as well as the foreword by Jeremy Rifkin (biotechnology's most ardent antagonist), readers are well advised concerning the content of this polemic by the policy director of Rifkin's Foundation on Economic Trends. Like Ruth Hubbard and Elijah Wald in Exploding the Gene Myth (reviewed above), Kimbrell rings the alarm against genetic R&D and, in general, the ``commodification'' of the body—the commercial traffic in human body parts. But unlike Hubbard-Wald, Kimbrell inveighs against all forms of buying and selling—including blood donations, organ transplants, artificial insemination, and surrogate motherhood. The author relates sad tales of exploitation of the poor for the benefit of the rich, together with some truly horrendous accounts of the trials and failures of infertile couples to achieve parenthood (raising a question about the extent to which humans will submit to such ordeals). The case is well and truly made for regulating, if not banning, the baby-broker business and assorted in-vitro fertilization laboratories. Elsewhere, however, we find researchers considered no better than exploiters and fast- buck artists out to use fetuses as transplant material or to produce babies to order—assuming, as Kimbrell does, that it's only a matter of time before genes for IQ or beauty will be found. The author concludes with a philosophical review that finds Descartes the culprit in reducing bodies to machines and that extols the virtue of gift-giving and reverence for the body. Kimbrell sends a meaningful message—but at the price of dismissing any good to come from genetics research in favor of pietistic nay-saying.
Pub Date: May 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250524-6
Page Count: 357
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
A fairly good survey of the first 4,000 years of Judaism and the role patriarchy has played in it—also a thinly veiled harangue against everything that raises the author's ire about modern Jewish life. From glass ceilings to boring charity dinners, Cantor gripes about subjects Jewish and not exclusively Jewish in a history that seems designed to showcase her grievances. She makes only occasional references to patriarchy's nefarious influence, focusing instead on American Jewish materialism, the lack of funding for Jewish education and culture, and antifeminism within Judaism's social hierarchy. But while her conclusions are too broad to fit the confines of her discussion of patriarchy's legacy, they are probably too narrow to hold the interest of anyone other than middle- aged, left-wing, Jewish feminists. For them, Cantor's book will provide more evidence of what they already believe: that American Judaism is ``spiritually/culturally anemic'' and that assimilationism is the primary culprit. The solution? ``The realization [by Jewish feminists] that if there is to be a Jewish future, it will have to be a feminist future.'' Cantor makes some insightful points about key players within Jewish family life—the no-win situation of the Jewish mother and what goes into the creation of the Jewish-American son, for example—but in her effort to explore stereotypes about Jews, she instead appears to accept and even reinforce them, making unfair generalizations about, among others, charitable American Jews and Jewish organizations. The author gets away with a lot by conveying the excitement she feels for her subject and through her engaging style, although she has some annoying literary tics, as when she offers two, or even three, word choices/options separated by slashes—an affectation that occasionally proves useful but more often seems merely indecisive. A vast and often entertaining look into one woman's Jewish-feminist midlife crisis.
Pub Date: July 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-06-061376-9
Page Count: 480
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1995
A mammoth and important rendering of the Christian faith, by one of the most prominent living Roman Catholic theologians. KÅng (Univ. of TÅbingen, Germany; On Being a Christian, 1976, etc.) surveys Christianity from its origins to the present in a highly readable account that illuminates without being didactic. In an age of confusion about spirituality and the meaning of Christianity, he writes, ``I have not given up hope that it will still be possible to live out Christian faith credibly in the third millennium.'' To redefine Christianity for the future, KÅng looks back; beginning with the ``question of essence,'' he explores attempts by theologians and philosophers to define the core of the religion. For some, like Marx and Feuerbach, all religion (Christianity included) is merely a human projection of psychological needs for something greater than themselves. Others, like Harnack in the early 20th century, sought to discover an ethic rooted in the supposedly pristine teachings of Jesus. Following this review, KÅng discusses the central doctrines of Christianity that are affirmed across denominations (monotheism, the centrality of Jesus as messiah, the workings of the Holy Spirit). The bulk of the volume is devoted to a kaleidoscopic review of the history of the faith from earliest origins to the present. The author views Christian history as a series of paradigm shifts (such as the shift from medieval allegorical scriptural exegesis to Luther's linguistic and grammatical exegesis); these models allow him to discuss differences among various denominations while keeping an eye on what they also share. KÅng does not skirt thorny issues, including papal infallibility, the changing role of women, and the encounter with other faiths. Despite its length, the book doesn't conclude the author's task. This volume is envisioned as part of a trilogy, also covering Judaism (Judaism, 1991) and Islam (forthcoming). Impressive work that could become essential reading for students and interested laypersons alike.
Pub Date: July 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-8264-0819-2
Page Count: 932
Publisher: Continuum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
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