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BIG BABIES

Name: BIG BABIES
Author: Michael Kinsley
ISBN: 0-688-12452-6

VINTAGE WHINES

by Michael Kinsley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1995

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A collection of columns from 198695 by Kinsley, picking up where an earlier collection, Curse of the Giant Muffins (1987), left off. Kinsley has earned a reputation from his frequent television appearances and columns in the New Republic, Time, and the New Yorker as one of the few Washington liberals still proud to wear that label. Indeed, some of the best columns in this collection are those attacking Republicans, especially for their campaign tactics in the 1988 and 1992 presidential campaigns (see especially ``Rally Round the Flag, Boys,'' which recalls attempts to portray Michael Dukakis as unpatriotic, and ``128 Skiddoo,'' charging the Bush campaign with lying about Bill Clinton's record as governor of Arkansas). But Kinsley has a more serious target in mind than conservatives: the American people, the ``big babies'' of the book's title. Kinsley writes in the introduction that the people ``make flagrantly incompatible demandscut my taxes, preserve my benefits, balance the budgetthen explode in self-righteous outrage when the politicians fail to deliver.'' Anger at Americans for their hypocrisyand at politicians, especially of conservative bent, who cynically exploit itis the common theme that runs through these columns. The anger, however, is muted, and that is this book's shortcoming. Kinsley is witty, clever, and incisive but also cool and controlled, and the absence of passion ultimately leaves the reader more impressed than moved. Kinsley's columns convey much interesting opinion but little sense of drama on the cataclysmic events of the past decade, from Irangate to the fall of the Soviet Union to electoral upheavals. Kinsley makes his case well if a bit too dispassionately: The American people want solutions without having to pay for them, and politicians will promise all the free rides it takes to get elected.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1995

ISBN: 0-688-12452-6

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1995

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.