by John Leonard ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1999
Manic essays on contemporary books, television, and cultural phenomena from a veteran critic for New York magazine and elsewhere. Leonard has collected his writings of the past few years—mostly from the Nation” into a new book, his eighth (after Smoke and Mirrors: Violence, Television, and Other American Cultures, 1997, etc.). He talks about books, events, and TV shows in verbals riffs more musical than intellectual: “I call The X-Files and like-minded cinemas “paranoirs.’ Those regressive hypnotherapists who buy into alien abduction . . . I call “psyclops.’ And those academics who insist on publishing monographs about such phenomena, I call “Cult Studs’—for their piratical boarding, under the black flags of Foucault and Lacan, of the pleasure craft on the pop seas; their swashbuckling style and their slaughter of the innocents.” In small doses, the swash and buckle of his own prose can be entertaining. Often Leonard is funny, in particular when writing about the media extravaganza that made Lorena Bobbit a star. Perhaps his glib, rapid-fire, superhip attitudinizing is meant to mimic the media culture of hyperbuzz that it addresses—as if Leonard has his finger on the amphetamine-pumped pulse of urban life. But in the long run of a whole book, the droll patter of his literary sound bites becomes oppressive. Readers will search in vain for a set of compelling issues, sustained thoughts, or concerns to unite these reviews into a coherent whole. Instead, an idiosyncratic prose style and an intrusive personality do what little they can to unify the pieces collected for this volume. These essays on literature and pop culture, though entertaining in themselves, do not add up to much of a book.
Pub Date: June 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-56584-533-1
Page Count: 336
Publisher: The New Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999
Share your opinion of this book
More by John Leonard
BOOK REVIEW
by John Leonard
BOOK REVIEW
by John Leonard
BOOK REVIEW
by John Leonard
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
Share your opinion of this book
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
Share your opinion of this book
More by E.T.A. Hoffmann
BOOK REVIEW
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson
BOOK REVIEW
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
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.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.