Deary takes a stab at extending the myth of Prometheus, carving a tale that, despite its satiric edge, manages to miss anything vital, such as an audience. Given a chance to escape the forcible daily removal of his liver while he searches for proof of this claim that humans can be as heroic as gods, Prometheus travels two million years forward, to a 19th-century Earth polluted by his gift of fire, but also corrupted by the “gifts” released from Pandora’s box. Flying into Eden City on borrowed wings, he hooks up with a con man and his young sidekick Jim, helps to engineer a prison escape after a robbery goes wrong and then goes off to continue his quest—with a liver-loving Fury hot on his heels. Jim narrates, taking continual, tiresome delight in snarky authorial asides; the tale spins dizzyingly from one literary allusion to the next, changing tone abruptly as it moves through sophisticated comedy to broad burlesque, savagely lampooning the upper class, then ending with a superficially optimistic epilogue. Self-consciously Dickensian in cast and theme, this pastiche is likely to leave readers as confused as they are unimpressed. (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2005
ISBN: 0-7534-5818-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Kingfisher
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2005
Reading like a long term paper, this dry, abstract recitation of teams and players brings neither the game nor the people who played and are playing it to life. McKissack (with Patricia C. McKissack, Black Diamond, 1994, not reviewed, etc.) opens with a chapter on basketball’s invention and original rules, closes with a look at women’s basketball, and in between chronicles the growth of amateur, college, and pro ball, adding clipped quotes, technical observations about changing styles of play and vague comments about how players black and white respected each other. The information is evidently drawn entirely from previously published books and interviews. A modest selection of black-and-white photographs give faces to some of the many names the author drops, but readers won’t find much more about individual players beyond an occasional biographical or statistical tidbit. McKissack frequently points to parallels in the history of African Americans in basketball and in baseball, but this account comes off as sketchy and unfocused compared to Black Diamond. (glossary, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-48712-4
Page Count: 148
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This technical, comprehensive entry in the Dangerous Weather series explores the mystery of rain and what happens when it does not come. Allaby (Tornadoes, p. 1384) first defines drought before discussing the reasons for and results of long periods without rain. Readers will gain a clear understanding of scientific terms that are in use, about air movements in the tropics and subtropics, subtropical deserts, desert life, precipitation, evaporation, ocean currents, jet streams, blocking highs, and more. As with the previous book, it may not interest general readers, but it will make research a breeze and may inspire further inquiries into the subject of droughts and water conservation. (b&w photos, drawings, illustrations, charts, graphs, index, not seen) (Nonfiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-8160-3519-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Facts On File
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1997
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