Vacation travelogue that, despite its pretension to social commentary, will make readers want to pack their bags.
Quaint traveler’s tale attempting to masquerade as hard-hitting reportage on modern China.
Weiss reunites with his old Army buddy, Hal, to travel to the Far East, finally submitting to decades of haranguing from Hal’s father, the Confucius-styled sage Pop Kam. Weiss chronicles his journey in a diary replete with scenes of the seeming absurdities of this foreign land. In its early stages, the text mostly resembles a blow-by-blow account of the author’s culture shock. But further along, his confusion about things like unrestrained public urination or vendors converting tomatoes into dumplings adds human detail to the narrative without rankling of condescension. Weiss never forgets that he is the outsider, and his humor is always self-deprecating. His account often risks becoming a tiresome itinerary of wondrous sites, reminiscent of a clueless uncle’s overlong slideshow of vacation photos. But enough history is interspersed between the charming yet repetitive descriptions to remind readers of the awe-inspiring marvel of such wonders as the Great Wall or the terra cotta warriors of Xi’an. Weiss writes with a literary flourish that at times makes his adventures sing, but it can just as easily sink to depths of overwhelming melodrama. He provides useful tips for those who might wish to follow in his footsteps: his experience with altitude sickness in Tibet, which showcases Weiss’s humility before nature, alerts others to the need to acclimate before ascending the Himalayas. His two-month trip in spring 2007 took place as China dove headfirst into preparations for the 2008 Summer Olympics, on which Weiss hooks an analysis of the nation’s struggle to modernize. The connection feels awkward and artificial, and the facts he incorporates about Tibet’s cultural suppression, pollution and the one-child policy can be easily gleaned from the Internet.
Vacation travelogue that, despite its pretension to social commentary, will make readers want to pack their bags.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-4363-1523-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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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