Despite its quirks, a worthy addition to the reference library. Of potential use to law students and professors, lawyers and...
A straightforward, alphabetized compendium of approximately 5,000 terms, proper names and concepts.
About halfway through, the format changes to a rundown of especially significant U.S. Supreme Court rulings concerning crime and punishment. Backmatter includes an index, bibliography of print resources, key web addresses, doctoral programs in criminal justice, federal and state probation, parole and prison agencies. Champion, a criminal justice professor at Texas A&M International University, favors breadth over depth. He makes it clear that his reference book is no substitute for Black's Law Dictionary or for in-depth research about individuals, institutions and issues. The first dictionary entry is “ABA models of court organization,” and the last is “Zylon,” a fabric used in body armor worn by law enforcement officers. The Zylon entry suggests the comprehensiveness of the reference book, but also demonstrates Champion's tendency to overextend himself. Do presumably sophisticated readers need to be told that body armor used by police is meant “to protect them from bullets during shooting incidents”? And what is the purpose of mentioning the names of two corporations that manufacture Zylon? Still, better too much than too little in a reference book–most entries educate and fascinate. Indeed, how many readers will know that lawyer Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970), author of the bestselling Perry Mason novels, “originated [the] Court of Last Resort, an organization that assisted persons believed to be wrongfully convicted of crimes”?
Despite its quirks, a worthy addition to the reference library. Of potential use to law students and professors, lawyers and laypersons alike.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2004
ISBN: 1-931719-33-0
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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