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TURNING RIGHT

Name: TURNING RIGHT
Author: David G. Savage
ISBN: 0-471-53660-1

THE MAKING OF THE REHNQUIST SUPREME COURT

by David G. Savage ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 15, 1992

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Los Angeles Times reporter Savage engrossingly chronicles a sea change in the nation's high court—its transformation, under Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, from guardian of an expansively interpreted Bill of Rights into a highly restrained and, toward government authority, profoundly deferential court. Savage tells a story much like an updated version of The Brethren, but without the gossipy flavor. The Burger Court depicted by Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong was dominated by liberal activist William Brennan and, like the Warren Court before it, read the Bill of Rights broadly and creatively to invalidate a wide range of statutes in the name of equity of civil liberties and human rights. By contrast, the Court that Savage describes has come increasingly under the control of Rehnquist and his narrow and literalist reading of the Constitution. Savage gives a term-by-term account, beginning with Rehnquist's elevation to the Chief Justiceship in 1986 and ending with the departure of the last Warren Court liberal, Thurgood Marshall, and the turbulent confirmation of his successor, Clarence Thomas. Along the way, the author offers anecdotal portraits of each justice, emphasizing the conservatives of the Reagan/Bush years who have transformed the Court—O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, and Souter. Savage focuses on cases raising highly visible issues—abortion, the death penalty, employment discrimination, for example—to demonstrate the Court's evolving approach to Constitutional adjudication, but does not neglect more arcane cases. The consistent philosophical threads in the Rehnquist Court's approach, he explains, are its deference to legislative majorities and governmental authority, and its disinclination to uphold challenges to such authority. Savage concludes that ``to a remarkable degree, the new Court mirrors the affable but solidly conservative man who leads it.'' A thoughtful, well-researched look at the current pronounced conservatism of a most enigmatic and influential institution. (Eight pages of b&w photos—not seen.)

Pub Date: May 15, 1992

ISBN: 0-471-53660-1

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Wiley

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1992

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.