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AT THE BAR

Name: AT THE BAR
Author: David Margolick
ISBN: 0-671-88787-4

THE PASSIONS AND PECCADILLOES OF AMERICAN LAWYERS

by David Margolick ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 24, 1995

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An engaging and exceedingly readable collection of essays on legal matters both great and modest. Margolick is a journalist who also boasts (perhaps ``admits to'' is a better phrase) a law degree. From November 1987 until he became the New York Times San Francisco bureau chief earlier this year, he wrote the entertaining Times column ``At the Bar,'' 120 examples of which are collected here. Although often depicting the legal profession at its best or its worst, Margolick's pieces are not blatant commentaries. He neither proselytizes nor expounds grand theories about law because, he argues, interesting anecdotes alone cannot be the basis for judging the value of the legal profession. Rather, Margolick seeks to show through examples that ``lawyers are, in fact, nothing but mirrors of ourselves.'' Loosely grouped into 12 chapters (``Personalities,'' ``Ethics,'' ``The Feminization of the Law,'' etc.), the essays cover such serious issues as the attempts of attorneys to balance career and parenthood; the firing of a lawyer who reported the ethical violations of another attorney in his firm; and an exceedingly cruel satire written by members of the Harvard Law Review lampooning the life and writings of a recently murdered feminist law professor. Lighter topics include the legal profession's passion for footnotes; how lawyers vied for cameo parts in the movie The Firm; and the campaign for the 1994 presidency of the American Bar Association, during which one candidate alleged that his opponent's foot condition made him physically unable to hold office, while the pedally impaired aspirant countered that his rival was too fat. Margolick's columns are invariably well-written, entertaining, thought-provoking, and pleasingly devoid of legal jargon. Fascinating snapshots of the myriad foibles and occasional heroics of lawyering and the law. A book that will engross lawyer and layperson alike.

Pub Date: April 24, 1995

ISBN: 0-671-88787-4

Page Count: 320

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1995

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
PROMISE AND THE DREAM
by David Margolick

- BOOK REVIEW
DREADFUL
by David Margolick

- BOOK REVIEW
ELIZABETH AND HAZEL
by David Margolick

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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.