WORLD ON A STRING

From the daughter of Will Yolen (champion kite-flier and author of Sportsman's Guide to Kite Flying), the injunction "go fly a kite" just can't sound abusive. World On a String, no mere family affair, is a cultural history of kites—from the East, where the "mystic and solitary" are devotees, and from the West, more concerned with making kites "useful." The latter involves all those historical weather and flying experiments, the former such variations as spectator sport, kite fishing and fighting, message sending and music; both areas have a string of gimmicks and publicity stunts. Neal's The Story of the Kite, the only comparison, is not nearly so comprehensive, authoritative, or well-illustrated.