A blow-by-blow account by veteran Village Voice writer Hornung of the recent upheaval on Mohawk lands in New York and Canada, which culminated in the 1990 takeover by Mohawks of a major bridge into Montreal. Although the roots of the conflict are centuries old—the product of confinement on tiny reservations where rivalries and tensions can only intensify—for Hornung the chronology of events begins in 1987 with the seizure by N.Y. State Police of slot machines in casinos operating on the Awkwesasne reservation. This intervention by nontribal authorities, and others that followed, brought Mohawks supporting and opposing the gambling activity into confrontation—a situation exacerbated by a militant third group, the Warriors, whose position against any encroachment on native sovereignty allied them with the pro-casino faction. Roadblocks, armed displays, vandalism, and riots, and the shooting down of a National Guard helicopter ensued, with two Mohawks killed in a particularly fierce firefight in the spring of 1990. Meanwhile, Kanesatake Mohawks opposed to the expansion of a golf course onto a tribal burial ground on the outskirts of Montreal erected a barricade on the site, with their defiance increasing after an armed assault by Quebec police in which one trooper died. Seizing the Mercier Bridge, the Kanesatake Mohawks forced a tense, month- long standoff in which the Canadian Army replaced the police and were ready to move in if negotiations failed. With an agreement forged, the roadblocks fell, but Mohawk resisters, including many Awkwesasne Warriors and their lawyer, were arrested. Remarkable for letting the parties involved speak for themselves, though long on daily events and short on analysis; still, this is a good reporter's view from the scene of another sorry chapter in Native American history.
Pub Date: April 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-679-41265-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1992
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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