In a veddy, veddy British memoir steeped in the rhetoric of the early Cold War, a mountaineer on the first Welsh-Himalayan expedition in 1955 is captured for spying on the Communist Chinese occupiers of Tibet. Charged with being a ``Western Fascist Lackey Imperialist Running Dog'' by an incredibly inept but brutal assortment of Chinese interrogators, Wignall, a career explorer and marine archaeologist, seized along with another stouthearted Englishman and a young Nepalese, refused to confess to spying for the CIA. In fact, Wignall was recruited by Indian military officials to gather information on Chinese troop build-ups (though his mission was not known to Prime Minister Nehru's government, which had acquiesced to Chinese sovereignty over Tibet). The trio were confined to unheated cells on starvation rations for three months, during which time Wignall managed to keep a diary—secreted in his air mattress—not only detailing his tribulations but also jotting down information on Chinese military intentions in the region; during periods of solitary confinement, Wignall communicated with his companions by singing messages to the tunes of English dance-hall songs. His captors never caught on to Wignall's dodges. Although frequently threatened with either immediate execution or long-term imprisonment, Wignall doled out laughably erroneous intelligence that was eagerly lapped up by his interlocutors. Finally bowing to international pressure for their release, the Chinese allowed the men to return to Nepal, but only by the most treacherous route, never before attempted in winter, with scarcely any provisions. Even fervent Anglophiles might quail at Wignall's sometimes clichÇ-laden prose (replete with ``sticky wickets'' and ``stiff upper lips''), and the narrative's unabashed political and social chauvinism seems creakily old-fashioned. But Wignall's story is a fascinating time capsule, with some top-notch adventure writing, and his convictions about Communist Chinese intentions were later borne out by that nation's invasion of India. (maps; 16 pages photos, not seen)
Pub Date: March 3, 1997
ISBN: 1-55821-558-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Lyons Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1997
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
