Sex, drugs, money, death: The saga of the Mitchell brothers has it all—which, no doubt, is why this is the second book about these trend-setting pornographers, one of whom killed the other, to appear in recent months (a third, by Warren Hinckle and Susan Cheever, has been postponed indefinitely). Happily, Hubner's intensively researched account is every bit as compelling as David McCumber's X-Rated (1992), and complements it nicely. Though Hubner (the Pulitzer-winning San Jose Mercury News journalist who coauthored 1988's superb exposÇ of the Hare Krishnas, Monkey on a Stick) doesn't write with the same explosive flair as McCumber, he livens his straightforward prose with key exclusive interviews, including one with Marilyn Chambers, whom the Mitchells launched into porno superstardom. With input from the Ivory Snow-girl and others, Hubner focuses more tightly than McCumber on the business/artistic aspects of the Mitchells' rise from obscure makers of penny-ante porno loops in the late 60's to rich and notorious creators of the porn classic Behind the Green Door and proprietors of San Francisco's infamous O'Farrell Theater. It's a savvy, sexually explicit report, and also jaw-dropping as the Mitchells' sense of sex as theater unfolds (one O'Farrell innovation was ``The Streets of Paris,'' a room containing a cobblestone street, wrought-iron balustrades, and doorways from which women beckoned men to sex). Hubner's quiet approach doesn't convey the drug-induced madness growing inside Artie Mitchell's head with the same intensity as did McCumber's flaming pages—but Hubner compresses the trial of Jim Mitchell for blowing away his brother into far fewer—and more cogent—pages than did McCumber. And so the Mitchells' story is replayed again, and in the retelling begins to take on the dimensions of another uniquely American myth of talent, excess, and tragedy, one to be put alongside those of JFK, Marilyn, and Elvis. (Twenty-five b&w photos—not seen.)
Pub Date: Feb. 12, 1993
ISBN: 0-385-42261-X
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A variation on the nature/nurture debate that comes down forcefully on the side of nurture to challenge the assumption that sex is natural. An adamant supporter of social constructionism as a theoretical basis for understanding the world, Tiefer (Urology and Psychiatry/Albert Einstein College of Medicine) critically analyzes the history of the study of sexuality, or sexology, in these essays reprinted from various popular and professional journals. Tiefer notes a dearth of good research, concluding that what exists has been hindered by definitional problems and persistent ``biological determinism.'' The author further claims that prefeminist investigations of sexuality served men's needs by focusing on physical senses while ignoring emotions. Throughout the essays, she weaves a sharp critique of Masters and Johnson, who based their pioneering study of sexuality on a biological model, which rendered their research methodologically flawed, in Tiefer's view. Repeatedly, Tiefer tries to debunk the idea that sex is a natural act. Her argument is strong, using analogies, for instance, that compare learning to have sex to learning to ride a bike: It requires instruction, guidance, and practice. Several of the essays serve to flesh out the old debate within feminism of ``sameness versus difference,'' which attempts to determine whether men and women are essentially the same or different, since sexual theory evolves differently depending upon the presupposition. For Tiefer, the project facing sexologists is ``to define and locate sexuality in personal, relational, and cultural, rather than physical, terms.'' Given this emphasis on culture, rather than biology, however, the fact that she waits until the concluding chapter to admit her neglect of race and class in considerations of sexuality is a serious shortcoming. Despite a few too many chapters and a few too many repetitions, Tiefer handles her challenge to the study of sexuality with poise.
Pub Date: Feb. 6, 1995
ISBN: 0-8133-1658-8
Page Count: 225
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1994
A British journalist sets off to find a modern-day pirate and soldier of fortune involved in numerous coups, revolutions, and assassinations in post-colonial Africa. Weinberg centers her story on Bob Denard's role in the series of coups and killings in the Comoros Islands in the 1970s and '80s. She pays less attention to his involvement in a 1954 plot to assassinate the French prime minister, for which he served time in prison; his participation in fighting in Katanga, Biafra, and the Congo in the 1960s; and his failed attempt to overthrow the Benin government in 1977. Denard claims to have been employed by the French government at times; at others, by both left- and right-wing revolutionary forces. He first went to the Comoros, four small islands at the head of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, in 1975 at the behest of Ali Soilih, an ardent socialist who had just ousted President Ahmed Abdallah Abdermane. (Three of the islands had recently gained independence from France; a fourth stubbornly remains a colony.) They negotiated Abdallah's exile to France, but Soilih's attempted radical reforms garnered little support from the Islamic populace. A series of disasters, including a volcanic eruption and the slaughter of 1,400 Comorians working on Madagascar, weakened Soilih's hold on the country. Denard—this time working for Abdallah—led a successful commando raid on the Soilih government in 1978. The newly reinstated leader named the Frenchman and his band of mercenaries to command the presidential guard. He and his men enjoyed power and profit until 1989, when yet another coup toppled Abdallah, who was mysteriously killed. Denard denied involvement but was hounded out of the country and took up residency in South Africa. Denard's adventures make quite a story. Weinberg, who struggles to withhold judgment and to weigh Denard's version of events against legend and verifiable fact, tells it well. (8 pages b&w photos, not seen)
Pub Date: Feb. 20, 1995
ISBN: 0-679-42202-1
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
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