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THE WIRED NEIGHBORHOOD

Another entry in the tired line of books expressing alarm over the Internet and its effect on our eroding communities. The author (Technical Communications/Clarkson Univ.) starts by waxing poetic about his own rustic town in upstate New York, and then worries about what globalization and the increased popularity of the Internet will do to it. He writes, ``In immersing ourselves in the electronic net, we are ignoring our real dying communities.'' To his credit, Doheny-Farina does counter the wild hyperbole of some of the more enthusiastic Net-hype, which promotes the Internet as a replacement for real social interaction. But such books always use the worst addicts and most tedious online conversations to discredit the Internet, and they completely ignore all of the far more significant causes for our troubled communities. This volume is no exception. The author uses boring chat-room conversations and the text-based networks called MOOs (now out of style) to illustrate his points. As a solution, he recommends steering the Net toward community networks that stimulate local interaction. No realistic consideration is given to how the Internet, which ignores geographic boundaries, can be used in this manner. Even worse, the tone is overly academic, and readers seeking simple prose will choke on sentences like ``This vision represents the manifestation of our will to virtuality.'' The author also falls into one of the greatest pitfalls facing writers on modern technology: The pace of change is so great, they often miss the latest developments. Doheny-Farina fails to properly consider the emergence of the Web, which has shifted the focus of the Internet from text-based chat communities to publishing, commerce, and entertainment. Though his concern for our troubled localities is justified, Doheny-Farina takes the wrong path in blaming the Internet and seeing in it the means to a solution.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-300-06765-8

Page Count: 240

Publisher: Yale Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

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NUTCRACKER

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

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

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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