Baker, author of half a dozen books (Bad Guys, 1996; Sex Lives; 1994, Cops, 1985; etc.) has given us the frank, often brutal views of cops and criminals on life and the criminal justice system. Here, he offers the similarly direct perspectives of prosecutors on the same subject. Baker relies on interviews with dozens of prosecutors from rural and suburban jurisdictions and big cities. Prosecutors in all settings have strikingly similar experiences: Though the majority of cases are routine, they present human nature at its worst, and prosecutors, after years of exposure to this stuff, take a grim and often cynical view of human beings (one assistant district attorney’s description of the job as “a lot like being on an assembly line” is particularly memorable). Baker probes his subjects’ outlooks on why they became prosecutors (hint: not money or prestige), the hardball trial tactics, the tremendous workloads, the often insane pressures of the job, and the enormous power that prosecutors have to transform peoples’ lives. The picture that emerges is gritty but often admirable: Baker’s subjects seem generally dedicated, mostly concerned with using their power wisely and fairly, and usually mindful of the criminal justice system’s many imperfections. But they’re human, and by interviewing members of the defense bar and judges, Baker is able to expose prosecutorial self-righteousness and pusillanimity when he finds it, with most sins coming under the rubrics of the “big head” (arrogance and abuse of the prosecutor’s discretionary power) and the “weak backbone” (caving in to political pressure). In the end, though a few of Baker’s subjects like the job well enough, most are driven to seek more sedate employment by what can only be called burnout: exhaustion, disgust with the endless parade of evil, and a desire to see good in human beings again all play their part. Stark and direct, Baker’s interviewees present a compelling, unvarnished look at the grim reality of America’s criminal justice culture.
Pub Date: June 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-684-83156-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999
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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