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KAFKA COMES TO AMERICA

Name: KAFKA COMES TO AMERICA
Author: Steven T. Wax
ISBN: 978-1-59051-295-1

FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE IN THE WAR ON TERROR

by Steven T. Wax ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 3, 2008

One-sided and too long, but offers important insights into what can happen when overzealous prosecutors believe that the...

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Oregon Federal Public Defender Wax describes the obstacles faced by lawyers representing people accused of terrorist activities.

Those interested in an inside account of how attorneys represent unpopular clients will learn a great deal from the behind-the-scenes strategy sessions detailed here. Both of Wax’s clients, Oregon lawyer and Islam convert Brandon Mayfield and Sudanese hospital administrator Adele Hassan Amad, were eventually released and the charges against them dropped, but not before they had their privacy violated. Mayfield, who had defended someone convicted of terrorist activities, was arrested as a suspect in the 2004 Madrid bombings because the FBI misidentified his fingerprints. Amad, accused of associating with terrorists, was imprisoned at Guantánamo, where he was frequently interrogated and beaten, although the U.S. government declined to reveal why he was a suspect. Descriptions of the judicial wrangling and the impact of the procedures on the defendants’ families are dramatic and far from subtle. Wax, a former prosecutor who worked on the “Son of Sam” case, delivers a screed against the policies of the Bush administration: “For five years now, the administration has acted as though U.S. law and the Constitution do not reach Guantánamo and has done everything in its power to obstruct Adele and other prisoners from having as day in court or contact with the outside world.” While acknowledging that after 9/11 the government was right to beef up prosecution of terror suspects, the author contends it could be accomplished in a more prudent, nuanced manner.

One-sided and too long, but offers important insights into what can happen when overzealous prosecutors believe that the ends justify any means.

Pub Date: June 3, 2008

ISBN: 978-1-59051-295-1

Page Count: 392

Publisher: Other Press

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2008

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

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

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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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.