For the oenophile with a sense of humor: In The Grapes Of Ralph ($35.00; Oct. 1996; 224 pages; ISBN 0-15-100245-2) the wicked cartoonist and illustrator offers a tour of the wine countries of the world and their leading denizens. Accompanying the narrative is Steadman's warped, witty art: Top-hatted Frenchmen inserting their sniffers into wineglasses; German grapes exploding in a heatwave—a perfect subject for Steadman's blotchy inkblot style; and in Australia, a portrait of of a woman known as Long Flat Red, who dyed her wardrobe in her husband's vintage of 1894. Effervescent and not too dry.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100245-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1996
Drawing on such popular histories as Nancy Mitford's The Sun King (1966), Elliott, a San Francisco writer, weaves through an informed and absorbing history of Louis XIV's court at Versailles the cloying story of little Adelaide, the ``perfect princess,'' betrothed at age ten to the king's grandson and sent to court to be groomed as the future queen. Traded off by her father, the Duke of Savoy, to secure a fitful peace, brave but ``merry'' Adelaide won the heart of the aging king and his secret wife, the wise Mme. Maintenon. They doted on Adelaide, amused her with hunts, masquerades, and fireworks while she learned the ceremonies and intrigues on which the opulent court functioned. ``Gay,'' ``reckless,'' ``irrepressible,'' briefly addicted to gambling, often ill-natured, mischievous, and demanding, Adelaide at age 14 married her moody, austere, and eccentric prince. As the ``18th century dawned over Europe,'' bickering over the Spanish succession turned into a long and costly war (1702-13), conducted only in the spring and summer under strict rules of decorum that guaranteed the dignity of the warring royals, all of whom were related. The war, however, was merely an unpleasant interlude in Adelaide's repeated attempts to produce an heir. Along with many miscarriages, she had three sons: One died in infancy, another at age five, and the last—orphaned as a toddler when both Adelaide and the Dauphin died of measles—grew up to become the ill-fated Louis XV. For those who like to read about the domestic life of royals, this is a rich tale. For the sake of Adelaide, though, it trivializes the marvelous French court, and turns the powerful and fearsome Louis XIV into an aging Maurice Chevalier singing ``Thank Heaven for Little Girls'' as he ogles his grandson's wife. (Sixteen pages of b&w photographs—not seen.)
Pub Date: July 14, 1992
ISBN: 0-395-60516-4
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1992
A trenchant and disturbing analysis of the transformation of newspapers from gatherers of news to profitable corporate assets, by the former editor of the Chicago Tribune. While sometimes reflecting outmoded attitudes—journalism is ``an oasis in the desert of capitalism''—Squires writes from a position of authority. The successful editor of the Orlando Sentinel and then of the Chicago Tribune at the time it won its battle with the Chicago Sun-Times, he describes himself in these posts as ``probably the most corporational, the least rigid, the most likely to compromise in the interest of getting all the masters served''; and yet he has become increasingly concerned by the changes in the newspaper industry. When he was first named an editor, in 1976, the average editorial department's share of revenue was 13-15 percent; today it's 10 percent at a good newspaper. Newspapers, Squires believes, no longer compete to produce the best journalism—which he defines as the most accurate portrayal of reality—but compete for the attention of consumers: ``What people want to read, watch and listen to is now more important in the evaluation of `news' than any of the more traditional considerations.'' The rot began, in Squire's view, with the triumph of the views of Al Neuharth of Gannett, who began hosting dinners for analysts and touting the contribution of newspapers to the bottom line. Increasingly, the author says, the notion of the separation between editorial and business has disappeared, other than in a few family-owned newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post. The ``dirty little secret'' is that newspapers don't want circulation: They want advertising. Squires concludes that newspapers are becoming indistinguishable from any other business, and that they are losing the basic justification for their existence. A bleak view of the press by one who's in a position to know.
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-8129-2101-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Times/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1992
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