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ANTI-AMERICANISM

Name: ANTI-AMERICANISM
Author: Paul Hollander
ISBN: 0-19-503824-X

CRITIQUES AT HOME AND ABROAD, 1965-1990

by Paul Hollander ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1992

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More counterculture-bashing from sociologist Hollander (Univ. of Massachusetts), here continuing in the form of a comparative review of anti-American sentiments around the world the campaign he began in Political Pilgrims (1981) and The Survival of the Adversary Culture (1988—not reviewed). Jumping right into the stream of quotations that makes up the bulk of his argument, Hollander uses comments from those attacking US policies and society as proof of their alienation, and their alienation as proof of a creeping un-Americanism in academia. Depicting participants in the ``adversary culture'' from Tom Hayden to Noam Chomsky, Norman Mailer to Daniel Berrigan as carrying the torch of 60's activism, Hollander notes with disdain and dismay their—and others'—presence and influence in religious institutions, the media, and especially the nation's universities (the ``Five College'' area of Northampton-Amherst in particular), with the persistent intimation that critical thinkers of this kind are merely disaffected and unfulfilled. Concern for anti-American feeling abroad is limited to brief consideration of attitudes in Europe and the Third World, with additional glances at Canada and Mexico reduced to surveys of select intellectuals. Fundamentally, then, Hollander sees the adversarial position of critics in the US, if not elsewhere, as derived more from personal unhappiness than from social reality. The idea of such a comparative study has merit, but Hollander's analytically weak and ideologically top-heavy effort is more polemical conservatism than sound scholarship.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-19-503824-X

Page Count: 496

Publisher: Oxford Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1991

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.