Or, Unsafe at Any Altitude: a measured, albeit merciless, critique of commercial aviation's safety policies and practices. Drawing on publicly available data, Nader (coauthor, The Big Boys, 1986, etc.) and Smith (Witness to Murder, 1991) make a persuasively documented, often chilling case for the proposition that in many respects flying is not safe enough. More disturbingly, they argue that the level of risk appears to be growing. Going well beyond accident and fatality statistics, the veteran consumer advocates cast a cold eye on the institutional factors that can make life-or-death differences for air travelers. Shortly after takeoff, for instance, they strafe the FAA (a slow-moving bureaucracy charged with promoting commercial aviation as well as air safety) and deregulation (in their view, an ill-advised experiment that has strained the airline industry's finances, tempting it to cut corners). Targeted as well are the deteriorating condition of the US air-traffic-control (ATC) network; the aging of America's jet fleet (now among the world's oldest); airport security; the ongoing use of dangerous (i.e., flammable and/or toxic) materials in passenger cabins; and the failure of federal officials to insist that carriers equip their planes with state-of- the-art systems. The authors' reform agenda calls for at least modified re-regulation that would subject commuter lines to the same safety standards as trunk carriers; eliminate the FAA's dual mandate and make it a genuinely independent agency with a tenured administrator; establish a separation ATC service; and scrap cost/benefit analyses of issues in which lives might be at stake. Mindful that their recommendations are unlikely to be embraced or adopted soon, the authors close with a catalogue of tips on surviving crashes or allied emergencies—and becoming an activist in the cause of air safety. An impressive marshalling of grim fact and outraged opinion.
Pub Date: Sept. 10, 1993
ISBN: 0-8306-4271-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1993
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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
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