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SPIKE LEE

BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY

A biography that is fascinating because its subject is fascinating. Spike Lee is well known for his controversial statements and combativeness, especially over his work. Haskins (Power to the People, 1997, etc.) demonstrates these aspects of the artist and businessman with research from primary sources (Lee's published comments on his own work), as well as from many secondary sources (among these, Haskins quotes Rolling Stone quoting The New York Times without indicating if he went to the original source). Descriptions of Lee's films are included, from the earliest, She's Gotta Have It to his acclaimed Malcolm X, and up through Get on the Bus. Anyone interested in a career in film will learn a great deal from the book, but it is also invaluable in planting the seeds for enterprise of any kind: Politics, money struggles, deal-making, fund-raising, and public relations are just some of the issues for readers to ponder. (b&w photos, index, not seen, notes, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 12+)

Pub Date: April 1, 1997

ISBN: 0-8027-8494-1

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Walker

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1997

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THE AMERICAN WILDERNESS AND ITS FUTURE

CONSERVATION VERSUS USE

A well-written, succinct summary covers the major controversies over use or preservation. Distinguishing among conservationists who support ``multiple use'' (including recreation, logging, and mining), preservationists who want to keep wild land untouched, and environmentalists who link preservation to global environmental problems, Dolan presents the history of national parks, forests, and wilderness areas and the threats they face. To personalize the issues, he includes italicized examples: e.g., smog might keep the reader from seeing much at the Grand Canyon. But Dolan's ideas for avoiding crowding problems suffer from somewhat patronizing phrasing, and parts of the book are already dated: some species of salmon have been declared endangered (Dolan does mention the effects of this decision), and no mention is made of Bush's attempt to redefine wetlands to allow housing development, a major flip-flop for the ``environmental president.'' In general, though, Dolan fairly presents all sides, calling in the end for compromise. Extensive source notes and bibliography; b&w photo insert and index not seen. (Nonfiction. 12+)

Pub Date: April 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-531-11062-1

Page Count: 144

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1992

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THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES

Decades after the events of The Forest of Hands and Teeth (2009), teenager Gabry lives in relative safety. Despite the Barrier keeping the ravaging zombies out of town, Gabry is a terrified homebody who wants only to stay sheltered with her mother, the refugee heroine of Forest. Her nervousness is justified; when Gabry is peer-pressured into sneaking past the Barrier for a night of adolescent rebellion, several of her friends are zombified. (One wonders, if teens sneaking out for a snog is so dangerous to society, how there any humans left at all.) The ensuing chaos sends Gabry into the wilderness where, encumbered by revelations about love and family, she encounters zombie-worshiping cultists, the dangerous remnants of the army and her own past. Whatever comes between Gabry and her mother, there’s one thing they definitely have in common: Like her mother, Gabry experiences an angst-ridden, gloomy love triangle while fleeing from zombie hordes in the forest’s depths. Fast-paced despite the mawkish romance, it will be gobbled up by fans of the first volume like brains. (Horror. 12-14)

Pub Date: March 9, 2010

ISBN: 970-0-385-73684-8

Page Count: 416

Publisher: Delacorte

Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2010

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