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WOMEN LAWYERS

Name: WOMEN LAWYERS
Author: Mona Harrington
ISBN: 0-394-58025-7

REWRITING THE RULES

by Mona Harrington ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 18, 1994

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Why many women lawyers are so miserable, and what they can do to change the profession; by attorney-turned-political-scientist Harrington (The Dream of Deliverance in American Politics, 1986). Interviews with ``over 100'' women lawyers, most graduates of Harvard Law School, tell depressingly similar stories: Entering the law ``in search of a father to embrace,'' women are silenced and shaken by the confrontational Socratic dialogue of the law-school classroom. Moreover, the prestigious firms they may join upon graduation view them suspiciously ``as dealers in emotion and subjective preference''—and as ``bodies.'' If they gun for partners, they must swagger like men and put in ``heroic hours.'' If they bear children, they must grapple with ``constant planning, pressure and guilt''—that is, until the punishing schedule and competitive ethic overwhelms them, prompting them to give up on the illusion of part-time work and to quit, thereby forgoing any opportunity to change the rules of the game. The second half of Harrington's study attempts to reframe the discussion by considering how some women lawyers ``use their authority to advance the equality of women,'' but the author's practical advice (go in- house; file amicus briefs; ``talk, project, dissent'') is uninspired, and her discussion of feminist jurisprudence (including the work of feminist deconstructionists, as well as of Catharine A. MacKinnon) drifts far afield. Harrington's main theme—that law isn't an expression of disembodied reason but, rather, merely the construct of the socially dominant (read: ``white male'') group—is provocative, but of limited value to the exhausted mother slogging through her umpteenth deposition. The author's great contribution here is quoting women at length as they describe in intimate detail what brought them to—and often what drove them away from—the practice of law. Except for some overblown theorizing: an important and incisive study, of potential interest to all women professionals.

Pub Date: Jan. 18, 1994

ISBN: 0-394-58025-7

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1993

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.