by Theodore G. Pavlopoulos ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 26, 2013
An edifying, sometimes frustrating, book for readers interested in the limitations of modern bureaucracy.
A searing indictment of the U.S.’s dysfunctional federal bureaucracy and its ramifying effects.
A Navy physicist for nearly four decades and well-published in his professional field, Pavlopoulos offers an eclectic book-length debut. Essentially a memoir, the book begins with the author’s childhood, recounting an upbringing that included time spent in the Nazi Youth Movement of 1930s Germany and his studying at the newly established Max Planck Institute of Physical Chemistry. The bulk of his reflection, though, centers around the time he spent as a physicist in the Navy, working on a wide variety of scientific research projects from lasers to optics, sometimes discussed in great technical detail. As the book’s title indicates, its principal theme is the incompetence entrenched within America’s federal civil services, protected by cronyism and craven self-interest. Pavlopoulos saves his most damning criticism for the Office of Personnel Management, an agency that oversees and regulates the operation of virtually every other agency in American government. Despite its being mandated by the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act to enact a merit-based system of compensation and promotion, the managers within the civil service continue to find ways to reward their friends at the expense of professional competence. Part of the analysis is folded into the author’s meticulous account of his own attempt to demand a promotion at the Naval Electronics Laboratory Center. While sometimes numbingly detailed, his account manages to avoid any ax-grinding attempts to settle old scores; he even reflects on his own personal bias. “Before starting to write this book, I was often troubled by questions and doubts: was I simply a malcontent? Was I reporting sour grapes? Therefore, I collected the reactions of other federal employees, and their comments are listed below.” On the whole, readers might feel burdened by such an exacting play-by-play of his appeal process. Also, the book suffers from an identity crisis of sorts, presenting itself as a personal memoir, a political study and an account of some highly specialized scientific endeavors; the appendix includes a description of Einstein’s theory of relativity. However, the main message, regarding the consequences of a wildly underperforming class of federal managers, is both startling and powerfully presented.
An edifying, sometimes frustrating, book for readers interested in the limitations of modern bureaucracy.Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-1625167231
Page Count: 278
Publisher: Strategic Book Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 25, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
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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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
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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