by Jeff St. John ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 7, 2007
Neither helpful nor humorous.
A self-help book disguised as humor.
On the surface, veteran self-help guru St. John is a good guy. He’s offered advice for the masses in print and on television, and wrote advice book Get Out of My Way–I’m Late For My Life (2003). In the introduction to his sophomore outing, he breezily discusses how important humor is to personal growth–a concept that seems like a fine launching point for an advice book. Unfortunately, one page later, we learn that St. John’s idea of helping is to insult and demean. A slight book, every page of this alleged parody consists of a cartoon rendering of one of eight “clueless characters,” each offering up two or three sentences of daily affirmation beginning with the promise, “Today I will...” St. John’s clueless characters are imbued with what most will consider stereotypical and offensive qualities. There’s Aquanetta Jackson, an African-American single mother of four who “takes her kids to see their fathers in prison annually.” (Yes, it says “fathers.”) There’s Soo Yoo, a 20-something Korean woman who manages a small manicure business and “screams for no reason.” And there’s Spencer Sterling, a metrosexual who “frequents gay clubs only for the attention.” The advice is, at best, unfunny, and at worst, inflammatory and obnoxious. For example, under the header “Karma,” Aquanetta tells us, “Today, I will intentionally inflict pain on stupid people. They have it coming.” In his ham-fisted, nasty manner, St. John is obviously telling us to do the exact opposite of his characters, but the whole project is so mean-spirited that readers may choose to ignore the author’s “lesson.”
Neither helpful nor humorous.Pub Date: March 7, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-595-41655-1
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by William Strunk & E.B. White ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 15, 1972
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
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
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