A cogent environmentally oriented collection, centered on the Sri Lankan culture and landscape.
A Sri Lankan author and photographer marries spirituality, science, and art appreciation in his meditations on culture, colonization, and the survival of life on Earth.
In the preface to this eclectic debut anthology, de Soysa argues that people are using the earth’s resources “for the selfish benefit of humans only.” That comment is a neat statement of the theme of the pieces that follow: articles, lectures, memoirs, essays, and tales, punctuated by 68 of de Soysa’s photographs. Originally conceived as a private publication for his children and grandchildren, the work is a manifesto of de Soysa’s personal, political, and spiritual philosophies as well as his respect for the natural world and his knowledge of innovative midcentury art movements in Sri Lanka. In “What is Our Real Ancestry?” he combines Eastern thought with science, writing that Earth “is the only planet where the elements of fire, earth, air, and water are in dynamic equilibrium.” “Becoming: Colombo Art Biennale 2012” is an affectionate profile of the artists who developed a modernist art movement grounded in Sri Lankan culture, while “Mihithala Mithuro Twentieth Anniversary” argues for the importance of environmental activism in Sri Lanka. “London to Colombo by Car” is a vivid description of an adventurous journey, viewed through the lens of memory. De Soysa’s narrative voice is warm and sincere and his photographs have the informal immediacy of personal snapshots that loop the reader into this captivating family narrative. Although the message of environmental urgency is repeated frequently, it is presented with rationality and clarity in such pithy statements as, “The world of humans is no longer living within its ecological income but is using up the life-giving ecological capital.” His solutions, too, are succinct. They include “restore the forest cover to at least 50 per cent,” “limit our wants,” and “wean the global economy away from its demand for ever-increasing growth.”
A cogent environmentally oriented collection, centered on the Sri Lankan culture and landscape.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5437-4793-5
Page Count: 140
Publisher: PartridgeSingapore
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
A smart, rewarding consideration of football’s popularity—and eventual downfall.
A wide-ranging writer on his football fixation.
Is our biggest spectator sport “a practical means for understanding American life”? Klosterman thinks so, backing it up with funny, thought-provoking essays about TV coverage, ethical quandaries, and the rules themselves. Yet those who believe it’s a brutal relic of a less enlightened era need only wait, “because football is doomed.” Marshalling his customary blend of learned and low-culture references—Noam Chomsky, meet AC/DC—Klosterman offers an “expository obituary” of a game whose current “monocultural grip” will baffle future generations. He forecasts that economic and social forces—the NFL’s “cultivation of revenue,” changes in advertising, et al.—will end its cultural centrality. It’s hard to imagine a time when “football stops and no one cares,” but Klosterman cites an instructive precedent. Horse racing was broadly popular a century ago, when horses were more common in daily life. But that’s no longer true, and fandom has plummeted. With youth participation on a similar trajectory, Klosterman foresees a time when fewer people have a personal connection to football, rendering it a “niche” pursuit. Until then, the sport gives us much to consider, with Klosterman as our well-informed guide. Basketball is more “elegant,” but “football is the best television product ever,” its breaks between plays—“the intensity and the nothingness,” à la Sartre—provide thrills and space for reflection or conversation. For its part, the increasing “intellectual density” of the game, particularly for quarterbacks, mirrors a broader culture marked by an “ongoing escalation of corporate and technological control.” Klosterman also has compelling, counterintuitive takes on football gambling, GOAT debates, and how one major college football coach reminds him of “Laura Ingalls Wilder’s much‑loved Little House novels.” A beloved sport’s eventual death spiral has seldom been so entertaining.
A smart, rewarding consideration of football’s popularity—and eventual downfall.Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
ISBN: 9780593490648
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Penguin Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 24, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
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