A provocative, biting and often entertaining collection of essays by a Village Voice columnist who explores black identity and the ``politics of style.'' A ``Bulletproof diva,'' writes Jones (a playwright and co- author of three of Spike Lee's movie-making books), has ``lip and nerve'' and she makes tart columns out of what could be coffee talk: ``my slave name,'' black men who flaunt their infidelity, the dramas (and politics) of hair care, the ``butt revolution...brought to you by black music, designer jeans and MTV.'' A feminist and artist, Jones explores the aspirations of her post-civil-rights-era middle-class urban peers, and has seen enough of the country to tell race tales of Utah and of Minneapolis, where ``jungle fever'' works only for white women. In some lively pieces of reportage, she trails a black rock band struggling against industry typecasting, and untangles the contradictions in the trial of the rap bad boys 2 Live Crew, dubious about the misogyny and greed behind this ``black oral and literary tradition.'' Daughter of the writers Amiri Baraka and Hettie Jones, the author thanks her bohemian white mother for giving her strength and teaching ``difference as pleasure,'' and gains even more inspiration from a stalwart aunt shackled by racism. Also included is her play Combination Skin, which satirically plumbs the crossover dreams of the ``tragic mulatto.'' A few pieces are ephemeral or riding a hobby horse, but this is a rich and durable collection, as Jones tries to ``define the role of race woman in the multiculti nineties.''
Pub Date: April 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-385-47122-X
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1994
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
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