A gimlet-eyed history from Hager and Pianin (reporters for Congressional Quarterly and the Washington Post, respectively) of the capital's budget follies, culminating in last year's impasse between President Clinton and the GOP-controlled Congress. The nation's fiscal difficulties are nothing new: The last time the budget was balanced was by LBJ in 1969. Although his successors could not fulfill fervent promises to tame the deficit beast, the worst offender, the authors claim, was Ronald Reagan, who, in pushing for tax cuts and defense-spending hikes, ended up tripling the nation's debt. What ensued, they show, was a partisan ``tit-for-tat, revenge-seeking game.'' The problem is that budgets, the government's declaration of major priorities, are as serious as they are arcane, and are especially crucial to special-interest groups. Washington's pols understand three things about this situation: that deficits corrode the nation's economic vitality by causing less private investment and lower long-term standards of living; that entitlement programs must be curbed lest the deficit worsen; and that any serious attempt to do so is ripe for partisan exploitation. Democrats learned this to their dismay when candidate Walter Mondale was hammered for advocating tax increases, while Republicans lost the Senate in 1985 after having tried to freeze Social Security cost-of-living adjustments. In 1990, Democratic intransigence forced George Bush to break his ``read my lips'' pledge against new taxes; in 1995, the Gingrich-led Congress got outfoxed by Clinton and were blamed for causing a ``train wreck'' (D.C. lingo for government shutdown). Hager and Pianin enrich their narrative with portraits of such budget-war veterans as Bob Dole, Richard Darman, Leon Panetta, and John Kasich—all initially hopeful of progress, all knowing better now. In depicting responsible governing checkmated by partisan sniping, the authors present a true-life spectacle as funny as a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta and as painful as root canal.
Pub Date: April 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-8129-2452-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Times/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1997
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
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