While the world is shrinking in many ways, globally dispersed ethnic groups—according to this provocative account by Kotkin (West Coast editor of Inc.; coauthor, The Third Century, 1988, etc.)—are playing pivotal roles in shaping its economic future. Kotkin argues persuasively that the collapse of communism could diminish the importance of nation-states and accelerate the renaissance of interest in geographic as well as racial roots. In the meantime, he surveys five ubiquitous peoples—the British, Chinese, Indians, Japanese, and Jews—who have made substantive commercial/cultural marks beyond their homelands. Although these transnational tribes have vastly different pasts, Kotkin contends that they share certain adaptive attributes, including open- mindedness, a passion for technical knowledge, bedrock behavioral values, and a sense of mutual dependence that helps them adjust to sociopolitical or economic change without significant loss of unity. Drawing largely on historical narratives and statistical data, Kotkin documents how the English built a great empire by putting profit ahead of grandeur, while enterprising Indians, unable to flourish on a caste-ridden subcontinent, prospered elsewhere in apparel, diamonds, entertainment, finance, and other niche markets where Jews still rank among the more conspicuous successes. He goes on to note that Japan's salarymen (the first Asians to embrace Western technology) retain close ties to home when working abroad. By contrast, the author points out, the far- flung network of overseas Chinese has no fixed point of national origin. Toward the close, Kotkin assesses which other ``tribes'' may gain business influence and power. Among the possibilities are America's Mormons, Armenians, Egyptians, Koreans, Lebanese, and Palestinians—all of whom, the author concludes, could oblige the world to discard outdated notions of melting-pot homogeneity in favor of a modus vivendi that amounts to peaceful coexistence. A challenging analysis of how the world really works.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-679-41282-4
Page Count: 328
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1992
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
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
