Lighthearted, Feynman-style recollections of a Soviet astronomer (co-author with Carl Sagan of Intelligent Life in the Universe), first published as a mid-1980's samizdat publication in the USSR. The impression Shklovsky (1916-85) left with most Americans he encountered on his infrequent visits from the Soviet Union was one not only of scientific brilliance but of a sharp wit, shocking outspokenness, and unusual likability. These qualities shine forth in these memoirs of a self-described fortunate fellow—born into a poor Ukrainian Jewish household—who rose, after many rejections, to a seat in the Soviet Academy and a major role in that nation's space program. Shrewd and amusing observations of Soviet scientific life include a portrait of the young Sakharov as a painfully introverted mama's boy (the two scientists remained friends for life); the habit one Soviet mathematician maintained, for the continued success of his career, of expressing encoded thanks for Stalin's death into all his work; the contagious joy Shklovsky experienced on the few occasions he was allowed abroad: to Brazil, where he attempted to record a solar eclipse; to Paris, where he nearly starved on a Soviet allowance; to New York, where he watched, entranced, the televised transmission of the Apollo 8 mission; to San Francisco, where he was entertained by Edward Teller; and to Albuquerque, where, over Mexican food, he discussed the possibility of extraterrestrial life with astrophysicist Phil Morrison, one of the instigators of SETI. Bitter reminders of Soviet anti-Semitism and the arrests Shklovsky witnessed in his long career add bite to his generally sunny and shrewd anecdotes. His death in 1984, before the current Soviet thaw, makes this collection particularly poignant. A joyful, inspiring and often provocative gesture of fellowship from the other side of the wall.
Pub Date: June 24, 1991
ISBN: 0-393-02990-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1991
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
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
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