An intelligent handbook to divorce for the abundantly rich that also contains some useful information for the rest of us.
An experienced divorce attorney thoroughly explains the issues that arise when ultrawealthy marriages dissolve.
Divorce is never an uncomplicated affair, but according to lawyer Bikel, it poses “unique challenges” for rich couples. Such parties may be acrimonious, and they must have all of their considerable assets valued and divided equitably—an astonishingly complicated process that can take years and, in itself, come at an extraordinary cost. The author, a veteran divorce attorney based in New York City, takes his readers on an expert tour of the myriad issues that can arise in such situations, including property division, conflict over the custody of children, the difficulty of maintaining privacy, and revelations of infidelity, among many others: “there are countless things that can go wrong with a high-stakes divorce. Affluence can make life easy, but it can also make it infinitely complicated unless experienced counsel is at hand.” He illustrates the lessons of this instructional primer with a series of high-profile cases involving the marital woes of actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie; Donald Trump and both of his former wives; and Amazon.com founder, CEO, and president Jeff Bezos and his spouse, MacKenzie Tuttle, among others. The overarching lesson of Bikel’s lucid, comprehensive guidebook is that one should prepare for every eventuality and hire the finest legal and financial experts that one’s money can buy: “a legal team with a panel of expert forensic accountants, valuators, art appraisers, real estate appraisers, and other specialists who understand the appropriate appraisal methodologies to use for each specific asset type.” Although much of the author’s counsel in this book will be of practical interest to anyone who may be facing the end of a marriage, it does specifically focus on the wildly financially fortunate. As a result, many less-wealthy readers will find the text to be more entertaining than edifying. Relatively few people, for example, will be able to relate to such questions as “Did you use your income as a gallerist in Soho to improve your condo in Belize?” However, even for those readers who don’t have billions of dollars at stake, the book will offer a prudent cautionary tale about the costs of being unprepared for a marital catastrophe. In addition, the book looks at divorce not only as a division of wealth, but also as a bitter contest between relentlessly competitive Type A personalities. For the most part, Bikel largely sticks to his own areas of expertise—this is a legal guidebook, after all, and not a self-help manual—but he does offer a wellspring of prudent counsel on the equitable mediation of conflict. Along the way, he also discusses, at great length and with impressive authority, the messiness of child-custody negotiations. These sections will be of value to many readers, including those who are less well-heeled. Overall, this is an impressively comprehensive survey of its subject conveyed in flawlessly clear language.
An intelligent handbook to divorce for the abundantly rich that also contains some useful information for the rest of us.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-947779-17-4
Page Count: 189
Publisher: Sutton Hart Press, llc
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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