The British coauthor of the failed Vance-Owen peace plan for the former Yugoslavia provides a personal and opinionated chronicle of his endeavors to reach a peace, laying primary blame on the Americans for pursuing a policy of ``power without responsibility.'' Lord Owen, a seasoned and maverick politician, had faced many challenges in his career prior to accepting Cyrus Vance's request in 1992 to cochair peace negotiations for the former Yugoslavia. Indeed, he was known for taking on insurmountable tasks. What some referred to as ``Mission Impossible''—negotiating a Balkan peace- -was for Owen an irresistible challenge. It also becomes clear that this was an unusual odyssey, both humbling and infuriating, in which Owen was confronted with a ``physical callousness of action'' as well as a ``callousness of mind.'' Balkan Odyssey provides an insider's view and a painstakingly detailed picture of the two men's exhausting dealings with Balkan leaders and other parties. The account rarely departs from the conflict's diplomatic side and will not satisfy those looking for a discussion of the ground war or human suffering. Instead it charts the various stages of negotiations, with individual chapters on the Vance-Owen Peace Plan (which would have divided Bosnia-Herzegovina into ten provinces), the EU Action Plan, and the Contact Group. Despite the Vance-Owen Peace Plan's failure, Owen is convinced that it remains the fairest and best solution possible, and that ``delay has meant a progressively worse peace for the Muslims.'' Among Owen's controversial opinions is his view that the US should not have pushed for recognition of Bosnia-Herzegovina without the prior presence of a UN Prevention Force, and he insists that ``there are no Chamberlains or Daladiers depicted in this book''—self-defense against cries of appeasement leveled at him. Essential reading for historians and serious students of both the Balkan crisis and diplomacy in the postCold War world. (Author tour)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100221-5
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1995
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
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
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