An important biography of a trailblazing woman, the book illuminates its subject’s strength at pinpointing a path forward in...
The bestselling author delivers a new biography of Sandra Day O’Connor (b. 1930), the first woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court.
Thomas (Being Nixon: A Man Divided, 2015, etc.), the former longtime correspondent and editor at Time and Newsweek, shows a woman who “saw herself as a bridge between an era where women were protected and submissive to an era of true equality of the sexes.” However, writes the author, “she did not regard herself as a revolutionary. Her success was owed in no small part to her ability to marry ambition to restraint.” Though a bit slow at first, the narrative establishes an essential background to understanding O’Connor as a woman who effectively navigated the shifting political landscape facing many women of her generation. Through Thomas’ lens, readers discover O’Connor as a driven, confident woman who seldom pushed others to acknowledge the impact of gender on expectations or success. She was capable of ignoring sexism of her peers but was committed to public service, civility, and principles of equality. Mindful not to draw too many conclusions about O’Connor’s beliefs, which she kept guarded, Thomas shines a clear light on her savvy, incremental approach to social change. From her professional charm and humor to her stylish grace, the author presents a significant view of O’Connor that contextualizes her political sensibilities. Peppered with tidbits about her personal life, the overall well-rendered portrait bears out the contradictory truths of her liminal position between traditional and evolving roles for women. At times, Thomas’ conclusions border on restrained, but that befits his subject. The author is at his best addressing the cases that came before SCOTUS during O’Connor’s era. Thomas ably shows O’Connor’s pivotal role in reaching resolutions regarding such issues as abortion, affirmative action, and voting rights. The author also sheds light on O’Connor’s nuanced legal prowess and her sensitivity to the tumultuous rise of partisanship.
An important biography of a trailblazing woman, the book illuminates its subject’s strength at pinpointing a path forward in complex times.Pub Date: March 19, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-399-58928-7
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
A wonderful page-turner written with humility, immediacy, and great style. Nothing came cheap and easy to McCandless, nor...
The excruciating story of a young man on a quest for knowledge and experience, a search that eventually cooked his goose, told with the flair of a seasoned investigative reporter by Outside magazine contributing editor Krakauer (Eiger Dreams, 1990).
Chris McCandless loved the road, the unadorned life, the Tolstoyan call to asceticism. After graduating college, he took off on another of his long destinationless journeys, this time cutting all contact with his family and changing his name to Alex Supertramp. He was a gent of strong opinions, and he shared them with those he met: "You must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life''; "be nomadic.'' Ultimately, in 1992, his terms got him into mortal trouble when he ran up against something—the Alaskan wild—that didn't give a hoot about Supertramp's worldview; his decomposed corpse was found 16 weeks after he entered the bush. Many people felt McCandless was just a hubris-laden jerk with a death wish (he had discarded his map before going into the wild and brought no food but a bag of rice). Krakauer thought not. Admitting an interest that bordered on obsession, he dug deep into McCandless's life. He found a willful, reckless, moody boyhood; an ugly little secret that sundered the relationship between father and son; a moral absolutism that agitated the young man's soul and drove him to extremes; but he was no more a nutcase than other pilgrims. Writing in supple, electric prose, Krakauer tries to make sense of McCandless (while scrupulously avoiding off-the-rack psychoanalysis): his risky behavior and the rites associated with it, his asceticism, his love of wide open spaces, the flights of his soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-679-42850-X
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Villard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1995
SEEN & HEARD
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