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RETHINKING AMERICA

Name: RETHINKING AMERICA
Author: Hedrick Smith
ISBN: 0-679-43551-4

by Hedrick Smith ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1995

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A Pulitzer Prizewinning veteran journalist repackages old news to argue for an overhauled America. Smith, a longtime student of Soviet society (The New Russians, 1990, etc.), here turns his attention to his homeland, contrasting our educational and economic systems—and especially the points where they intersect—with those of Japan and Germany. He finds America wanting, and for good reason. Noting, as many others have, that Japanese and German workers are much better trained than are their American counterparts, he takes a close look at the interplay of solid, year-round education and apprenticeship programs with economies that can roll with the punches rather than ``downsize,'' jettisoning workers and destroying lives in their retreat. Along the way Smith turns up surprises; he notes, for instance, that Japan's supposedly rigid public-school curriculum is remarkably flexible, with ``a baffling lack of stress on academic achievement'' and a more emphasis on ``stimulating [students'] delight in the process of learning than...on their getting the right answers.'' His arguments are sharp and telling, and Smith is not afraid to steer into controversy, stating baldly that ``by focusing its resources on the college-bound, America's public school system has unintentionally become undemocratic, elitist.'' Smith's mistrust of received wisdom is a refreshing plus. The book is occasionally marred by business-book clichÇs: the abundant use of terms like ``benchmarking'' and of metaphors from professional sports, the peppered quotes from that old mainstay, Machiavelli. It is also too long by half. Still, his sharply pointed case studies and eye for telling details keep Rethinking America on track to a hard conclusion: We must change our ways or be lost in the future. Smith's timely arguments for redesigning our educational system to prepare students for life to come bears much discussion.

Pub Date: June 1, 1995

ISBN: 0-679-43551-4

Page Count: 432

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1995

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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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.