A loose-knit history of American journalism that promises more than it delivers. Leonard (Journalism/Univ. of Calif., Berkeley; The Power of the Press, 1986, etc.) concentrates not so much on newspapers themselves as on their cultural influence and how they have been variously read and interpreted. For example, one of the bestselling books prior to the Civil War, American Slavery As It Is, was a collection of clippings culled from southern newspapers. These items, unnoteworthy to southern readers, were read by northerners as damning indictments of slavery. As Leonard ably demonstrates, newspapers came to occupy a central cultural position in 19th- century America. Most hotels had a special reading room, taverns boasted of the numbers of papers they subscribed to, and with the democratic intent of widely disseminating information, Congress mandated a significantly reduced postal rate for all newspapers. By 1918, the average household subscribed to 1.4 daily newspapers. From there it was all downhill until the nadir of the 1970s, when most cities were left with only one daily paper and many publications were actively looking for ways to get rid of less affluent subscribers. Leonard blames all the usual suspects but is hardest on newspapers themselves, mainly for forgetting their particular communities and for dumbing down content. And he is certain that technology will continue to play its usual supporting role, in the form of computers and the Internet. There is the core of a fascinating book herealthough the incessant journalistic hand-wringing grows tiresomebut Leonard jumps carelessly from idea to idea, making this seem more like a collection of musings and short essays than any kind of serious, developed history. Flashes of insight, but few scoops or exclusives. (illustrations and photos, not seen)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-19-506454-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1995
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
BOOK REVIEW
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
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