A sensitive, astute contribution to the history of the armed forces.
In Bingaman’s stellar memoir, his boyish obsession with flight blossoms into a grueling but rewarding career with the U.S. military, leading him into the uncertainties of war.
Bingaman returns to his Iowa roots in this collection of anecdotes, reminiscences, and breathtaking impressions of clashes and close calls among fighter pilots and their peers. Recounting first his time in England as an American airman in a NATO squadron, the narrative covers his time in Oregon, the Midwest and Vietnam, detailing the operations—particularly the idiosyncrasies and frustrations—of military programs and the officers that oversaw them. In the Cold War shadows cast by Eisenhower and Khrushchev, Bingaman changes locations multiple times, taking his family with him. In Vietnam, as the war unfolds, he finds himself caught between the dangerous requirements of his occupation and an American bureaucracy with strenuous demands but too little regard for the human costs. A careful combination of career savvy and compassion helps Bingaman keep his wits sharp as friends disappear around him and the political situation grows thornier; he manages to survive a war he judged to be “a complete misfortune” and in which the White House wasted arms, effort and men. Well-paced and written in economical prose, Bingaman’s retelling of his past is at once richly personal and broadly historical, sacrificing neither breadth nor depth to convey specific bits of information as well as the zeitgeist of the time. In addition to several black-and-white photographs, there’s a profuse amount of technical vocabulary and jargon in the volume—e.g., “Don, as Kingpin three, leading our element, lost his wing man on startup, a ground abort, and I filled in as Kingpin four”—though it doesn’t derail the fundamental human interest driving this account of the formidable constitution and patience required of someone who aspires to high-level military service.
A sensitive, astute contribution to the history of the armed forces.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2013
ISBN: 978-1483401133
Page Count: 268
Publisher: Lulu
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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