An exemplary biography of a true public servant, especially refreshing in today’s toxic political climate.
A well-worth-the-effort doorstop study of an indispensable American jurist.
In this powerhouse portrait, Snyder, a professor of constitutional law and legal history, offers a definitive life of Felix Frankfurter (1882-1965), the often misrepresented justice appointed by Franklin Roosevelt who served during an era of liberal sea change in the Supreme Court—best illustrated by Brown v. Board of Education. Born in Vienna, Frankfurter moved to the U.S. with his family when he was 12, and he graduated first in his class from Harvard Law School. Throughout his career, he was known for his judicial restraint. He believed that socio-economic change should be primarily effected through the democratic process, via legislative action by elected representatives. Though he was reluctant to allow the highest court to “enter [the] political thicket,” Frankfurter believed its power was essential in securing civil rights for Black Americans. Snyder delves into every aspect of his subject’s extraordinary life: his earliest days as an immigrant immersed in New York City public schools and trying to learn English; his remarkable success in law school and as editor of the Harvard Law Review; his service under his mentor, Henry Stimson, when he was still in his 20s and eager to join Theodore Roosevelt’s crusade for “robust federal government.” As the author writes, “Roosevelt was the leader who could implement James Bradley Thayer’s ideas about limiting judicial review while empowering the federal government.” Other powerful influences included Frankfurter’s “judicial idols,” Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. and Louis D. Brandeis, who championed the notion that law could serve the public good. Above all, Snyder capably demonstrates how Frankfurter “played a major role in the creation of a liberal establishment.” His far-reaching legacy, which the author masterfully captures, can be seen in his writings in the fledgling New Republic, his lifelong mentoring at Harvard Law, and his long career advising presidents and top players across the political spectrum.
An exemplary biography of a true public servant, especially refreshing in today’s toxic political climate.Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-324-00487-5
Page Count: 1008
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the...
Elie Wiesel spent his early years in a small Transylvanian town as one of four children.
He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions.
Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2006
ISBN: 0374500010
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Hill & Wang
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
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