Here we go again. In reporting Holmes' The Trials of Dr. Coppolino (p. 84) we made the safe bet that there would be others soon. This covers only the New Jersey trial, which cleared Coppolino of the charge of murdering his aging ex-paramour's husband. So, Holmes' is the better book in that it covers not only the New Jersey case but Coppolino's later conviction in Florida for the murder of his wife. (In each trial the barely detectable drug succinylcholine was considered a main agent of death and evidence given about it was central to the creation in New Jersey and the suppression in Florida of reasonable doubt.) The level of writing in both books is about the same. Both are the stuff of subjective feature writing and, while MacDonald is not quite so taken by Coppolino as Holmes, he's even more puffingly praiseful of F. Lee Bailey, Coppolino's attorney in both actions. MacDonald's Foreword explains that he's attempting to give readers a front row courtroom seat. To that end, he's abstracted the highpoints from the records of the preliminary hearing in Florida, the jury selection in New Jersey, and the trial, then stitched them together with commentary on witnesses' behavior or reactions and courtroom procedures. Trial trivia moves briskly in and out of libraries, but this promises to see its greatest sale from paperback racks.
Pub Date: Sept. 6, 1968
ISBN: 0449448584
Page Count: -
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1968
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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