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MIXING IT UP

Name: MIXING IT UP
Author: Ishmael Reed
ISBN: 978-1-56858-339-6

TAKING ON THE MEDIA BULLIES AND OTHER REFLECTIONS

by Ishmael Reed ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 15, 2008

Worthwhile reading from an important voice.

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Reed (Blues City, 2003, etc.) thinks the media’s portrayal of black people is racist—and he’s probably right.

The author is perhaps better known by vociferous reputation than for his prolific and diverse career as a writer, and his polemic spirit is alive and well in this latest collection of essays. Selections ruminate on subjects of varying closeness to the author (his mother figures largely in several), but all dance—or perhaps box—around the media’s portrayal of African-Americans and its insidious effect on race politics. Reed, with ample evidence, albeit some hearsay, spares no one: Don Imus, Toni Morrison, Orlando Patterson and the Manhattan Institute are all skewered as enablers of racism. The validity of his arguments is at times somewhat undermined by his irascibility (and consequent clouded judgment), but this collection as a whole is provocative and relevant. “Assisted Homicide in Oakland” asks important questions about the city’s skyrocketing crime rate and the power of the gun lobby. “The Patriot Act of the Eighteenth Century,” originally published in Time, should be required reading for every lawmaker. Reed’s dissection of minorities in the media in “The Colored Mind Doubles” is on par with any mainstream op-ed piece and, though surely controversial, makes a salient point about the lengths to which some networks go to advocate “scientific racism” and perpetuate the stereotype that African-American problems are largely self-inflicted. Also included is his landmark 1998 Baltimore Sun essay in which he calls President Clinton a “black” president, a qualified accolade that preceded similar, more widely publicized statements by Jack White and Toni Morrison. A MacArthur Fellow and Pulitzer nominee, Reed’s shortcomings are hardly analytical, but rather editorial: His talent is often preceded by the cacophony of sensational one-liners he’s amassed over the years. As a critic of the media pundits, he should know better than to bait them.

Worthwhile reading from an important voice.

Pub Date: July 15, 2008

ISBN: 978-1-56858-339-6

Page Count: 176

Publisher: Da Capo

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2008

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
BLUES CITY
by Ishmael Reed

- BOOK REVIEW
ANOTHER DAY AT THE FRONT
by Ishmael Reed

- BOOK REVIEW
MULTI-AMERICA
edited by Ishmael Reed

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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.