A broad and glossy, but thoroughly entertaining tour of old- time radio. Though radio is becoming an increasingly segmented stopgap to fill the silences television cannot reach, there was a time when it was a unifying agent, as powerful a mass-cultural force as perhaps America has ever seen. This period, from the early 1920s to the mid-1950s, truly was the ``golden age'' of radio. Film authority Maltin, a regular on Entertainment Tonight, has a sharp eye for telling details, revealing anecdotes—and is never in such a hurry he can't stop for an amusing digression or aside. While his subject is enormous, he provides enough range and breadth of information to make any reader sound knowledgeable at a cocktail party (although he doesn't discuss the advent of FM radio). Actors, directors, sponsors, musicians, sound effects, and more all get their own tidbit-filled chapters. Radio began as a substitute for telegraphy, a way, most notably, for ships at sea to communicate with shore. But others began tuning in, the price of sets came down, and soon the idea of creating regular programming took hold. Maltin ably captures the excitement and seat-of-the-pants style of early radio, when almost everything was live, leaving little room for mistakes. Though there was enormous room for creativity and innovation, sponsors quickly came to exert substantial influence over the shows aired under their aegis (no mention allowed, for example, of the word ``lucky'' on shows sponsored by a tobacco brand other than Lucky Strikes). After WW II, as television—and its unremitting literalism—became an increasingly serious challenge, live shows were replaced by tape, more stars were trotted out, and audience segmentation increased, but nothing could stem radio's slide from the popular consciousness into background noise. A warm, engaging valentine to a bygone art form and era. (130 b&w photos)
Pub Date: Oct. 20, 1997
ISBN: 0-525-94183-5
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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