Warner (English/Rutgers Univ.) challenges the current stodginess of queer activism—focused as it is on the gay community’s hope to be considered “normal”—through his incisive critique of the banalities and dangers of such normalcy. Criticizing the way some identities are deemed normal while others are not (Ö la Foucault), Warner delineates with lapidary skill the problems of the cultural constructions of the normal, how heterosexual lives are thus validated at the expense of the queer. Using a smoothly textured argumentative style, Warner showcases the functioning of shame within a conservative ideological framework to reward some identities and punish others. His argument stands strongest when he concentrates on how the eradication of shame from sexuality would liberate queer communities from the monolith of marriage and how the rejection of normalcy would accord the gay community a liberated space within the spheres of the sexual culture. Ironically, the trouble with The Trouble with Normal is that it directs its arguments toward the queer community rather than the straight one. Telling gay people that, for various ethical reasons, they shouldn’t even want to marry, when they already can’t, does not change the fact that laws that enfranchise some while disenfranchising others are discriminatory. Warner’s rhetoric persuasively reveals the hierarchical parameters of marriage and the constraints of normalcy, but a more universal approach to his topic would delineate the limitations of marriage for all people—not just queer people. In the end, his polemic leaves standing discriminatory treatment of queers for the sake of a theoretical attack on normalcy. Warner’s ethical vision succeeds as a utopian revelation of sex freed from shame, but a sharper eye for the real-life ramifications of such an outlook might have revealed its limitations.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-684-86529-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Free Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1999
A successfully realized and unique overview of an up-to-date police methodology—the new science of psychological forensics— that has grown apace with serial murder, and a plethora of cases, famous and obscure, that illustrate it. Fox and Levin (Mass Murder, not reviewed) carefully enumerate the three types of mass murderers: sociopaths who kill for thrills and self-aggrandizement; political and psychotic fanatics (i.e., the Manson ``family''); and ``thrill killers,'' who statistics indicate may constitute two-thirds of all serial killers. At this point the authors introduce the new psychological profiling techniques developed by behavioral scientists at the FBI. These profiles comprise a kind of ``template'' that is used as an investigative tool; they include the murderer's age, race, sex, marital and employment status, possible criminal record, relationship to the victim, and likelihood of committing future crimes. For example, the typical serial killer is intelligent, socially and sexually competent, a first- or second-born child, and a skilled worker. He lives with a partner, is mobile, drives a relatively new car, and follows his crime in the media. Contrary to popular mythology, he is not a nomad or a recluse and hardly ever uses a firearm. The authors develop this material in fascinating detail, explaining such factors as ``linkage blindness,'' an obstacle to detection arising when a killer commits felonies in multiple jurisdictions, even if consistent in modus operandi. (Enforcement personnel in various jurisdictions do not always talk to each other.) Compelling revelations for serious students of mass murder; for those whose interest is mainly macabre, there are plenty of side trips into the bubble and squeak of cases both famous and obscure.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-306-44771-1
Page Count: 260
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1994
An erudite, astute synopsis of Israel's economic, social, and political upheavals from 1987 to 1993. Frankel, a Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist who served as Jerusalem bureau chief for the Washington Post from 1986 to 1989, collected an impressive amount of material in the course of his reporting. He uses it to build a history of the tumultuous events that have challenged Israel in recent years: the intifada, the Persian Gulf War, the huge influx of Soviet Jews, the interactions of Knesset members, the confrontations between President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, the Labor Party's defeat of the right-wing Likud Party in 1992, and the momentous Israeli-Palestinian peace accord. Frankel's prevailing theme in his analysis of these events is that a younger, more progressive-minded citizenship is now shaping Israel's future. Gone, he says, are outdated, Socialist-Zionist attitudes; the new consumer-oriented, Westernized attractions are ``in.'' Israelis feel, says Frankel, that for the first time since the 1948 establishment of the state, Israel is strong enough to create history—as opposed to being defined by it—and thus to make peace with its enemies. He writes that Israel is ``still cognizant of its tragic, heroic, bloodstained past, but it [is] more self-confident, pluralistic, open and bourgeois.'' This belief is most effectively argued in the final chapters, which culminate in the pivotal resolution between Israel and the PLO. Displaying impeccable precision and clarity, Frankel delves deep into the mindsets and backgrounds of Israelis and Arabs—VIPs and civilians alike—to elucidate their often complex, emotion-filled decisions. He explains, for instance, why European-born Yitzhak Shamir was unable to move forward with peace while his Israeli-born successor, Yitzhak Rabin, was. Steeped in thoughtful commentary and deftly written with a reporter's eye for detail, this comprehensive history is a jewel. (Author tour)
Pub Date: Nov. 4, 1994
ISBN: 0-671-79649-6
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1994
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