A well-written memoir that examines the author’s personal and political struggles in academia and the world at large.
A compelling memoir set against the backdrop of major historical events of the mid-20th century.
To say that Lee’s formative years were distinctive is an understatement. Born to a Chinese father and a German mother, he lived in China, Germany, Mauritius and Iran before immigrating to the United States in 1946. As might be expected, the first chapter of his book shows his remarkable adaptability as he negotiates multiple languages, cultures and educational systems. Even after he reaches the United States, his experiences as a young man span many locations: high school in New York City, an undergraduate career at Harvard, summer employment in New Hampshire, graduate school in Baltimore and Chicago, and an early teaching career at the University of Maryland. A central theme of academic freedom emerges in a chapter titled “Witnessing Witch Hunt in Washington,” as several of Lee’s professors at Johns Hopkins face professional consequences for their beliefs and actions. A decade later, Lee himself is investigated by the FBI while working as a Far Eastern Analyst in the Foreign Affairs Division of the Library of Congress. This setback foreshadows what is to come and leads Lee in 1963 to the University of Hawaii, where the bulk of the memoir takes place. As America’s involvement in Vietnam escalates and the anti-war movement gathers strength, questions about Lee’s role as adviser to the Student Partisan Alliance, a radical activist organization, lead the administration to rescind its recommendation to grant Lee tenure. Throughout the book, but particularly in these two extensive chapters, Lee cleverly and effectively weaves his personal history together with the political happenings on campus, in the nation and abroad. He also provides succinct background information for readers who may be unfamiliar with the era’s events and includes photographs, documents and articles to support the text. The memoir concludes with the resolution of the tenure issue and the author’s trip to parts of Asia (including Saigon) in 1969, as well as further protest actions in 1970. However, because Lee only recounts the first half of his life in this volume, readers will sense that there is much more to tell.
A well-written memoir that examines the author’s personal and political struggles in academia and the world at large.Pub Date: March 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-0615822389
Page Count: 318
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Full of interesting factoids–-but the blatant advertising for Kushner's products is pervasive to the point the book becomes...
A wake-up call about caffeine from a committed and self-interested author.
Formerly a newspaper journalist in Russia who consumed enormous amounts of coffee and cigarettes, Kushner relocated to New York City during the early '90s. Shortly thereafter, she learned she suffered from Celiac disease, a genetic disorder that was perhaps exacerbated by products containing caffeine. She researched caffeine substitutes, none of them suiting her tastes. And she discovered that certain substitutes contain gluten, another substance that those with Celiac cannot tolerate. Thus, she "invented" soy coffee and uses this book as her marketing platform. It's frequently informative, though, once the the text moves beyond pure publicity. For instance, she mentions that England's King Charles II attempted to shutter coffeehouses in 1675 because men tended to neglect their families while staying out to consume caffeine. Widespread protest, though, defeated the ban; the Boston Tea Party of 1773 resulted in the consumption of coffee as a patriotic duty; the world's first espresso machine began making noise in France in 1882; Maxwell House coffee is named after a Nashville hotel; US coffee sales boomed during the 1920s thanks to Prohibition; the US imported 70 percent of the world’s coffee crop at the beginning of WWII; Starbucks opened its first store in Seattle in 1971. These are just a few pieces of coffee trivia the author offers. She also briefly discusses the history of the American addiction to caffeine, explaining the chemistry of the substance, listing specific health threats (heart disease, central-nervous-system disorders, ulcers, cancer) and mapping out specific routes to end dependency. Unfortunately, though, the style interferes with the substance, as the tone is often shrill and alarmist. An appendix titled "Make a Difference!" is the call to action here, urging readers to petition the FDA for fuller disclosure among coffee manufacturers of specific product caffeine levels.
Full of interesting factoids–-but the blatant advertising for Kushner's products is pervasive to the point the book becomes soporific.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-9747582-0-5
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An adequate guide for running high-performance workgroups within a corporate setting, but far from a guaranteed formula for...
A satisfactory business study confirming the old business saw that 10% of the people do 90% of the work.
According to Annunzio's analysis, only 10% of elite information workers work in high performance-workgroups. The remaining 90%? Apparently they labor away as modern-day Bob Cratchits, in environments that neither demand nor deliver optimal performance. Ebullient accounts of the ideal workplace are nothing new in business nonfiction, nor are the lugubrious tales of moribund organizations. The author rarely notes here, though, anything we haven't heard a million times before from Tom Peters, Steven Covey, or even Donald Trump. Her maxims are boilerplate business clichés: value people; optimize critical thinking; seize opportunities. But basing a formula for business success on such bland principles is problematic, since they are so vague as to be meaningless. Do companies fail because they neglect to do such things? Most failures had nothing to do with workgroup functioning; instead, they stemmed from lack of foresight and, more commonly, simple bad luck. Nonetheless, Annunzio does proffer good advice for companies that wish to maximize the performance of their workgroups. First, identify those that are performing at a high level, those that can provide evidence of profit/revenue growth along with product, service, or process innovation. Second, work on bringing average groups up to maximum performance. More importantly, avoid destructive behaviors such as micromanagement, bureaucratic interference, resource and information hoarding, politics, and control. She also makes the astute—and cost-saving—observation that before hiring high-priced consultants to solve business problems, companies might consider consulting their own employees, who are more likely to know the answers.
An adequate guide for running high-performance workgroups within a corporate setting, but far from a guaranteed formula for business success.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2004
ISBN: 0-59184-060-0
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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