A thorough, well-written biography of an enigmatic figure.
The story of the little-known Violet Gibson (1876–1956), who shot Italian ruler Benito Mussolini on April 7, 1926, but failed in her assassination attempt.
London-based cultural historian Saunders (The Devil’s Broker: Seeking Gold, God, and Glory in Fourteenth-Century Italy, 2005, etc.) unearths an impressive amount of information about Gibson. Born to an influential family in Dublin, Gibson had been slated for a comfortable life in high society. Unlike her sisters, however, she refused to marry well and rear children. Instead, she studied a variety of fringe religions and mystic philosophers before settling on Catholicism as her guiding faith and leaving Ireland forever. Eventually settling in Rome, the isolated, lonely Gibson decided she must assassinate the increasingly imperialist Mussolini because God wanted her to slay a bad man. Despite the normally high state of security surrounding the dictator, the frail, white-haired Gibson walked up to him on Rome’s Campidoglio Square and fired at his face. The bullet grazed his nose. When Gibson tried to shoot again, her weapon failed to discharge. By then, Mussolini had moved away and Gibson had been immobilized by members of the crowd. Unsurprisingly, Gibson ended up in a jail cell. After years of legal maneuvering, she was confined to an insane asylum until she died in custody 30 years after the assassination attempt. In addition to documenting Gibson’s outer and inner lives during the three decades of incarceration, Saunders skillfully describes the continued ascendancy of Mussolini, whose life was ultimately unaffected by the assassination attempt. Though it’s difficult to decipher whether Gibson should be remembered as a courageous heroine or a briefly violent insane person, it’s obvious that the more Saunders learned about her, the more the author came to admire her subject.
A thorough, well-written biography of an enigmatic figure.Pub Date: April 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9121-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Metropolitan/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Jan. 10, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
James Baldwin has come a long way since the days of Notes of a Native Son, when, in 1955, he wrote: "I love America more than any other country in the world; and exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually." Such bittersweet affairs are bound to turn sour. The first curdling came with The Fire Next Time, a moving memoir, yet shot through with rage and prophetic denunciations. It made Baldwin famous, indeed a celebrity, but it did little, in retrospect, to further his artistic reputation. Increasingly, it seems, he found it impossible to reconcile his private and public roles, his creative integrity and his position as spokesman for his race. Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone, for example, his last novel, proved to be little more than a propagandistic potboiler. Nor, alas, are things very much better in No Name In the Street, a brief, rather touchy and self-regarding survey of the awful events of the '60's — the deaths of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, the difficulties of the Black Panther Party, the abrasive and confused relationships between liberals and militants. True, Baldwin's old verve and Biblical raciness are once more heard in his voice; true, there are poignant moments and some surprisingly intimate details. But this chronicle of his "painful route back to engagement" never really comes to grips with history or the self. The revelatory impulse is present only in bits and pieces. Mostly one is confronted with psychological and ideological disingenuousness — and vanity as well.
Pub Date: May 26, 1972
ISBN: 0307275922
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A surprisingly warm and consistently outspoken retrospective for both fans and celebrity followers.
The self-described “king of all media” shares personal introspection and favorite celebrity interviews in his first book in two decades.
Stern (Miss America, 1995, etc.) is in top form in this entertaining amalgam of intimate confessional and Q-and-A archive. Opting for an older, wiser perspective this time around, the author strips away the juvenile raunch and sophomoric humor that made his first books runaway bestsellers. The book’s introduction, a meaty, contemplative 19-page affair, finds Stern, 65, candidly discussing his struggles with OCD, random regrets (namely his treatment of Robin Williams and Rosie O’Donnell), greatest moments (interviews with Conan O’Brien and Paul McCartney, animal rescue efforts), his move to SiriusXM in 2006, and the day he inexplicably took a rare show-day off to attend to an undisclosed cancer scare. It’s a kinder, gentler, all-grown-up side of the shock jock, which he credits to aggressive psychotherapy and his second wife, Beth. However, it’s the intimate, provocative celebrity interviews that make up the bulk of this weighty tome and which the author admits “represent my best work and show my personal evolution.” With his advancing age came wisdom, humility, empathy, and a dramatic sea change in the show’s direction and focus, as evidenced in more nuanced, probing interviews with Courtney Love, Joan Rivers, Michael J. Fox, Chris Cornell, and Lady Gaga, among others. Stern introduces each conversation with his personal perspective on the individual and the impression they made. His honest conversations with actors, music legends, and others represent an eclectic cross-section of celebrities, and his questions range from the piercing to the downright ridiculous. Perhaps the book’s most startling interview segments are those with a pre-presidential Donald Trump, whom Stern has interviewed dozens of times. Throughout the book, which is divided into thematic sections (“Sex & Relationships,” “Money & Fame,” “Drugs & Sobriety,” “Gone Too Soon,” etc.), the author’s personal growth and enduring legacy as a broadcast pioneer and unique profiler are on full display.
A surprisingly warm and consistently outspoken retrospective for both fans and celebrity followers.Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5011-9429-0
Page Count: 560
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2019
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