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ABANDONED IN THE WASTELAND

Name: ABANDONED IN THE WASTELAND
Author: Newton N. Minow
ISBN: 0-8090-2311-3

CHILDREN, TELEVISION, AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT

by Newton N. Minow & Craig L. LaMay ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 1995

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A rousing if slightly canned diatribe against commercial children's television, by a former FCC chairman and broadcasting executive. In 1961, Minow made headlines by chiding broadcasters for turning TV into a ``vast wasteland.'' Here he—and his protÇgÇ, journalist LaMay, who graciously allows Minow the first-person singular throughout—deplores the ``vaster'' wasteland of child- accessible TV, which sends ``salesmen, animated assault artists, and leering talk-show hosts'' into the living rooms of neglected kids for hours a day. Protecting children from such ``toxic'' programming is manifestly in the public interest, the authors contend; therefore, broadcasters should not be allowed to hide behind the First Amendment's free-speech guarantee. Minow (Presidential Television, 1973) and LaMay vigorously argue for the enforcement of the toothless Children's TV Act of 1990, which provided for time limits on commercials and mandated airing of educational shows. They write convincingly of the need for follow- up measures, such as an antitrust exemption for broadcasters to enable them to coordinate the scheduling of such shows. They also make a strong case for the ``v-chip,'' a computer chip that would allow parents to screen out unsuitable programs. But the authors are on shaky ground when they discuss actual TV shows. For example, they fail to see that Sesame Street's merchandising teaches preschoolers to link program and product, thereby setting the stage for program-length merchandising like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The authors naively assume that older children would be sated by a strict diet of shows that transmit values, offer scant support for their assertion that comic-book karate on TV makes kids violent, and concede that regulations eliminating TV violence ``may indeed capture Hamlet.'' You get the feeling the authors don't watch kids who watch TV, but their eloquent defense of public television comes at a crucial time.

Pub Date: July 1, 1995

ISBN: 0-8090-2311-3

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Hill and Wang/Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 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.