Long-awaited report by Friedman, a nuclear physicist and well- known UFO buff, and Berliner (Want a Job? Get Some Experience. Want Experience? Get a Job, 1978) on the most controversial UFO case in US history: the purported crash of a saucer, complete with aliens, on July 3, 1947, near Corona, New Mexico. The ostensible crash and subsequent government coverup have received much attention over the years, notably in a 1980 bestseller by Charles Berlitz (Roswell Incident) and a novel by Whitley Strieber (Majestic, 1989). What do Friedman and Berliner add to the tale? High melodrama, with tinges of 1950's sci-fi and Red-menace movies (``Man had just come face to face with beings from another world,'' the authors declaim, said encounter being buried by ``brilliant covering-up by the entire American government''). Lots of reports from first- and second-hand witnesses, who remember seeing alien corpses and handling bits of mysterious, hieroglyphic-covered metallic foil. An intriguing theory of a second crash several miles away. A pointless description of the crash site today. Attempts to shore up ``documents'' about the crash (the so-called ``Majestic-12'' papers) that most UFO researchers reject as fakes. And last but not least, a subtext of embarrassing infighting among UFO researchers, who will win no awards for scholarly detachment. No great shakes, but a decent updating of Berlitz's report. Corona, New Mexico, still awaits its Schliemann, or at least its Jim Garrison; ufology still awaits its Homer. (Photographs—not seen.)
Pub Date: Aug. 24, 1992
ISBN: 1-55778-449-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 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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