Look elsewhere, though, if you want a broader understanding of Napoleon’s life and career.
An undistinguished entry in the vast library devoted to the French leader.
In this, the first of a projected two-volume biography, Asprey (Hindenburg and Ludendorff, 1991, etc.) charts the transformation of Nabolione Buonaparte from the bratty scion (his childhood nickname was Rabulione, “the disturber”) of a middle-class Corsican family to revolutionary firebrand and renowned general. That transformation, the author notes, was accomplished by dint of selfless labor and extremely hard work, though it did not hurt that from childhood Napoleon nursed a vision of himself as a great leader worthy of some future Plutarch. A former Marine officer, Asprey is strong on Napoleon’s military accomplishments and leadership qualities; he notes that the general “treated his crude, often illiterate troops, often dregs of society, like a patient father” and was not averse to getting mud and blood on his tunic. Asprey also proves a knowledgeable guide to the general’s often brilliant (but occasionally misguided) tactics. On matters of diplomacy and sociology, the author is less successful; he does not adequately explain, for instance, why Napoleon was so readily able to win the affections of the people he conquered and thus to export many of the French Revolution’s ideals far afield. Asprey’s prose suffers from floridity (Napoleon had “an independent spirit as wild and free as the wind that pounded waves onto 300 miles of coast”) and metaphorical tone-deafness (“the bubbling pot of political, social, and economic discontent was about to explode into what history knows as the French Revolution”). Such narrative ailments notwithstanding, students of military history—the apparent target audience—will find much to admire in this account, while armchair historians will enjoy the vivid battlefield depictions.
Look elsewhere, though, if you want a broader understanding of Napoleon’s life and career.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-465-04879-X
Page Count: 608
Publisher: Basic Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Her biographer, James Westcott, once said: “every time she tells a story, it gets better,” and one can’t help but wait in...
Legendary performance artist Abramovic unveils her story in this highly anticipated memoir.
When she was growing up, the author lived in an environment of privilege in Yugoslavia, which was on the verge of ruin. Her parents, two fervent communist partisans and loyal officers during Josip Broz Tito’s rule, were not the warmest people. Abramovic was put under the care of several people, only to be taken in by her grandmother. “I felt displaced and I probably thought that if I walked, it meant I would have to go away again somewhere,” she writes. Ultimately, she carried this feeling of displacement throughout most, if not all, of her career. Many remember The Artist Is Present, her 2010 performance at the Museum of Modern Art in New York during which she sat in front of museumgoers for 736 hours, but her work started long before then. As a woman who almost single-handedly launched female performance art, the author has spent the better part of her life studying the different ways in which the body functions in time and space. She pushed herself to explore her body’s limits and her mind’s boundaries (“I [have] put myself in so much pain that I no longer [feel] any pain”). For example, she stood in front of a bow and arrow aimed at her heart with her romantic and performance partner of 12 years, Ulay. She was also one of the first people to walk along the Great Wall of China, a project she conceived when secluded in aboriginal Australia. While the author’s writing could use some polishing, the voice that seeps through the text is hypnotizing, and readers will have a hard time putting the book down and will seek out further information about her work.
Her biographer, James Westcott, once said: “every time she tells a story, it gets better,” and one can’t help but wait in anticipation of what she is concocting for her next tour de force.Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-90504-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Crown Archetype
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
An authentic and fresh extension of the author’s successful Web series.
Writer, producer and director Rae, famous for her popular Web series, "The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl," channels her humor and attention to detail into this eponymous collection of personal essays about all the embarrassing moments that have made her who she is.
Sharp and able to laugh at herself, the author writes as if she's unabashedly telling friends a stream of cringeworthy stories about her life. Having grown up with the understanding that laughing at and talking about people was a form of entertainment and bonding, Rae continues the tradition by inviting readers into her inner circle and making her own foibles her primary focus. Almost 30, she opens up about nearly everything in her life, from her lifelong fear of being watched while eating in public to acutely awkward experiences with Internet dating and cybersex. The theme that race plays in this book is integral, although Rae's approach, as with all of her subjects, is decidedly humorous and lighthearted; she veers, always, toward a personal tone as opposed to one that's political or polemical. Her unwavering candidness, the sheer energy of her voice and the fact that she clearly finds herself to be terrific material make her a charismatic, if occasionally exasperating, narrator worth rooting for. Having been in a committed relationship for seven years, Rae unpacks how her Senegalese parents’ union contributed to her attitude (indifference) toward marriage. Some readers will find her proclamations and direct confessions offensive and be turned off; others may be offended but laugh out loud anyway. In Rae, her audience has landed on a singular voice with the verve and vivacity of uncorked champagne.
An authentic and fresh extension of the author’s successful Web series.Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-1476749051
Page Count: 210
Publisher: 37 Ink/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
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