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DECISION

Name: DECISION
Author: Bernard Schwartz
ISBN: 0-19-509859-5

HOW THE SUPREME COURT DECIDES CASES

by Bernard Schwartz ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1996

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An admixture of legal scholarship and gossip, by law professor Schwartz (Univ. of Tulsa; The Ascent of Pragmatism: The Burger Court in Action, 1989). Schwartz bases his study on internal documents and on interviews with (often anonymous) justices and clerks, as well as on historical materials and published opinions. He shows that the justices, through a lengthy process of conferring and exchanging drafts, make law through a much more collaborative and less individualistic process than is generally assumed. Schwartz voices a deep concern with the ``increasing delegation—if not abdication- -of key elements of the deciding function'' to law clerks, who not only select which cases the court will review, but write most of the opinions that set forth the law of the land. He also worries that the politicization of the nominating process has made it unlikely that ``a nominee with the potential for greatness could be approved.'' The parts of the book most accessible to general readers can be seen as a more restrained version of Bob Woodward's 1979 The Brethren (which Schwartz terms ``incomplete and inacurate''). Reading about the justices' foibles and personality conflicts is all the more entertaining, given the veil of secrecy behind which they normally work. Much of the book will, however, be heavy going for readers unfamiliar with constitutional law. Schwartz relates in convincing but sometimes tedious detail a number of examples of horse-trading and vote-switching by justices. In trying to demonstrate the chief justice's leadership role, he proves only that a great politician, such as Charles Hughes or Earl Warren, will bend more justices to his views than a lesser one like Warren Burger. Those hostile to the Warren Court's liberal activism may be disturbed by this Warren biographer's unreserved approval of it. Thoughtful and illuminating, but probably a challenge for the general reader.

Pub Date: March 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-19-509859-5

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Oxford Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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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.