A wide-ranging critique of anti-drug policies that focuses on the ``shadow agendas'' behind ``politically obligatory `get tough' postures.'' Though Gordon (Political Science/City College, CUNY) could use some journalistic detail to animate her academic style, she makes some important basic points, noting that we blame drugs for larger social problems and often ignore the damage caused by alcohol and tobacco. She offers capsule case histories of the development of recent policies: the federal death penalty for drug kingpins; Michigan's mandatory sentencing for possession of small amounts of drugs; Alaska's 1990 referendum to recriminalize marijuana possession; the decision in tax-wary Kansas City, Mo., to impose a sales tax to fund the local battle against drugs; Seattle's ordinance to prohibit ``drug traffic loitering.'' Examining those actions, she suggests that they do less to fight drugs than to control ``dangerous classes,'' including minorities, youths, aliens, and even the liberals who welcomed the Warren Court's due process decisions. She also points out how politicians harness the drug issue to obtain visibility and power, and how local governments seeking revenue and merchants seeking safe streets gain from stringent drug policies. Most valuable is her analysis of ``drugspeak,'' the dishonest language that suggests, for example, that drugs are a ``ubiquitous and undifferentiated threat.'' Looking at Europe, Gordon finds policies that are based less than ours on the need to blame individual pathology or immorality. While she doesn't support legalization of drugs beyond marijuana, Gordon proposes a Netherlands-style ``de-escalation of prohibition'' and suggests that we must aim for responsible drug use rather than abstinence. Gordon's analysis lacks the depth and inner-city insights of Elliot Currie's Reckoning (1993). Still, she helps us understand much of the posturing that passes for drug policy rhetoric.
Pub Date: Aug. 8, 1994
ISBN: 0-393-03642-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
