Well-told story of a suburban Chicago kidnapping, murder, and miscarriage of justice. Protess (Journalism and Urban Affairs/Northwestern) wrote three major stories about the case for the Chicago Tribune, while Warden is a freelance investigative journalist. One morning in 1988, Cynthia and David Dowaliby awoke to find their seven-year-old daughter, Jaclyn, missing: Broken windows attested to a break-in. Four days later, Jaclyn's decaying body was found in a field with a rope wrapped around her neck. The police had no leads other than the Dowalibys themselves and, asked to take lie-detector tests, the parents ``passed'' handily. But Chicago's outrage about the case boiled over, and local prosecutor Richard M. Daley, whose eye was riveted on the mayoral seat left vacant by his late father, decided to win ink by prosecuting the Dowalibys. Many career prosecutors in Daley's office told him that there was no case, but the Dowalibys were arrested the same day that Daley announced his mayoral candidacy. In the middle of the trial, the judge dismissed the case against Cynthia for lack of evidence, but the confused jury—under pressure from a hectoring foreman—decided David's guilt on irrelevant evidence not even discussed in the trial, and he was sentenced to 45 years in prison. Meanwhile, author Protess entered the scene and, joined by Warden, began punching holes in the verdict. Over a year later, Dowaliby was freed when the Illinois Appellate Court vacated the verdict on lack of evidence. Then Protess and Warden got hot after suspects, especially Cynthia's ex-brother-in-law, a paranoid schizophrenic, who told them about ``the spirit,'' his alter ego, who had taken Jaclyn to heaven. The case has now been reopened. Steadily gripping, though more as a story of justice gone awry than of a murder. (Sixteen-page photo insert—not seen)
Pub Date: May 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-385-30619-9
Page Count: 434
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1993
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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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
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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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
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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