A down-to-earth guide to the digital revolution (a.k.a. Information Highway) that's ushering in an era of momentous change. Burstein (Turning the Tables, 1993, etc.) and Kline (a contributing editor of Wired) caution that it could take 50 or more years to complete the postindustrial makeover of the Global Village's cultural, governance, institutional, and socioeconomic structures. There's still no telling the exact shape of things to come, they assert, largely because the high-tech frontier has almost no sheriffs. By way of example, the authors cite the Internet. Given the anarchic character of this widely dispersed, wholly unregulated web, Burstein and Kline speculate that its future is as a sort of people's bazaar rather than as a roadway for the financial traffic of corporate America. They go on to offer a rundown on other of the brave new world's unanswered questions. Cases in point range from the commercial fate of interactive television through the stability of the alliances being formed among cable TV operators and regional telephone companies; whether the CD-ROM is a passing fancy; and how to determine what the consuming public really wants from multimedia. Covered as well are Washington's frequently perverse reactions to the digital revolution and the risk that it could widen the gap between haves and have-nots. Burstein and Kline then make their own proposals for the productive domestic development of the Information Highway. Among other possibilities, they commend total deregulation of telecommunications (with reregulation, if need be, as benefits and drawbacks come into focus), establishment of a coherent technical policy by the federal government, incentives to keep more manufacturing in-country, and leaving censorship to adult consumers, not legislators. A thoughtful, instructive survey on what may lie ahead on a winding road that's still under construction.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-525-93726-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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