Like the hero of the book-then-film, The Paper Chase, Turow got all frazzled—smoking, drinking, making and breaking psychiatric appointments—by his first year at Harvard Law School (1975-76), the year with all the tough courses, heavy pressures, competitive snarls, and think-like-a-lawyer angst. So it's a wonder he was able to find time to keep this stupefyingly detailed journal, what with taking notes in technicolor (different pens for case-briefs, lectures, etc.), joining a study group, plunging into "moot court" arguments, fretting about future employment, and brooding over the motives of a brilliant, sadistic prof, the failings of an incompetent one, and the viability of the Socratic question-and answer law-teaching approach. Written too soon after the event to stifle self-dramatization—or to touch on the tenuous relationship between actual law practice and classroom drilling—this will be of interest only to masochistic, prospective law students but may mislead them, since Harvard's enormous classes, hothouse ambiance, and rock-rigid first-year requirements are less than representative of current options in legal education.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0446673781
Page Count: 308
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1977
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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