After a year of hanging out with Dave Bettencourt, a Rhode Island high school senior, Providence-based journalist Miller (The Work of Human Hands, 1992) concludes that, ``yes, it is more difficult to grow up'' in today's violent, media-plagued society. A member of Burrillville High School's Class of '93, Dave planned to make senior year memorable for himself and the school. The principal creative force behind Total Godhead, an irreverent, often vulgar underground newspaper, he incurred the wrath of both teachers and the in-crowd students, who objected to being called ``hairy gnome scrotums'' and worse. But Dave had his supporters too, in particular his basketball coach, who recognized that he was ``more dedicated than skilled'' but fulfilled his dream of starting in a varsity game, and the honors English teacher, who found Dave to be creative and imaginative, ``untypical'' for his age. While Dave vacillated between aiming for a career as a stand-up comic or sportscaster, his parents pressured him to concentrate on the sciences. (Ranked 10th in his class, his SAT scores were good enough for acceptance at the University of Rhode Island.) His girlfriend, Beth Sunn, a 15-year-old cheerleader at another school, horrified Dave's friends and family with her dress and demeanor: in gang-girl garb, she had big hair and talked trash, imitating the rappers she saw on MTV. But she was also a natural beauty, played soccer and tennis, collected teddy bears and Sesame Street dolls, and had a passion for shopping. As Miller follows their relationship through the school year, he notes their ideas and attitudes on sex, marriage, AIDS, money, education, and each other, even providing a glimpse into their diaries. Hard to say how ``typical'' Dave and Beth are of today's teenagers, or how much Miller's presence altered the very reality he wanted to observe. But his mostly successful exploration of their interests, anxieties, hopes, and dreams is certainly worth a look. (17 b&w photos, not seen)
Pub Date: June 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-679-42326-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1995
A forceful, necessarily provocative call to action for the preservation and protection of American Jewish freedom.
Known for her often contentious perspectives, New York Times opinion writer Weiss battles societal Jewish intolerance through lucid prose and a linear playbook of remedies.
While she was vividly aware of anti-Semitism throughout her life, the reality of the problem hit home when an active shooter stormed a Pittsburgh synagogue where her family regularly met for morning services and where she became a bat mitzvah years earlier. The massacre that ensued there further spurred her outrage and passionate activism. She writes that European Jews face a three-pronged threat in contemporary society, where physical, moral, and political fears of mounting violence are putting their general safety in jeopardy. She believes that Americans live in an era when “the lunatic fringe has gone mainstream” and Jews have been forced to become “a people apart.” With palpable frustration, she adroitly assesses the origins of anti-Semitism and how its prevalence is increasing through more discreet portals such as internet self-radicalization. Furthermore, the erosion of civility and tolerance and the demonization of minorities continue via the “casual racism” of political figures like Donald Trump. Following densely political discourses on Zionism and radical Islam, the author offers a list of bullet-point solutions focused on using behavioral and personal action items—individual accountability, active involvement, building community, loving neighbors, etc.—to help stem the tide of anti-Semitism. Weiss sounds a clarion call to Jewish readers who share her growing angst as well as non-Jewish Americans who wish to arm themselves with the knowledge and intellectual tools to combat marginalization and defuse and disavow trends of dehumanizing behavior. “Call it out,” she writes. “Especially when it’s hard.” At the core of the text is the author’s concern for the health and safety of American citizens, and she encourages anyone “who loves freedom and seeks to protect it” to join with her in vigorous activism.
A forceful, necessarily provocative call to action for the preservation and protection of American Jewish freedom.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-593-13605-8
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 22, 2019
A heartfelt if somewhat unsurprising view of old age by the former president. Carter (Living Faith, 1996, etc.) succinctly evaluates the evolution and current status of federal policies concerning the elderly (including a balanced appraisal of the difficulties facing the Social Security system). He also meditates, while drawing heavily on autobiographical anecdotes, on the possibilities for exploration and intellectual and spiritual growth in old age. There are few lightning bolts to dazzle in his prescriptions (cultivate family ties; pursue the restorative pleasures of hobbies and socially minded activities). Yet the warmth and frankness of Carter’s remarks prove disarming. Given its brevity, the work is more of a call to senior citizens to reconsider how best to live life than it is a guide to any of the details involved.
Pub Date: Oct. 26, 1998
ISBN: 0-345-42592-8
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1998
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