A straightforward but tepid biography from fisheries biologist Joyner of the great visionary Magellan, whose resolve to reach the Spice Islands by sailing around the lands encountered by Columbus and others prompted the first circumnavigation of the globe. Joyner begins with an overview of the history of seafaring and of Portuguese exploration of sea routes to India. Magellan, member of a rural branch of the Portuguese royal family, emerges from obscurity in the midst of the struggle in the Indian Ocean over control of the spice trade, proving himself a brave and resourceful fighter. But his less endearing demands for greater recognition earn him King Manuel's enmity, forcing him to cut his ties to Portugal in order to try his luck in Spain. With powerful backing, Magellan finds King Charles more receptive to his plans to open a spice route to the West, and in September 1519 five ships set sail under his command. Dissension plagues the voyage almost from the start, but Magellan carries on even with a fleet reduced by mutiny, reaching the Pacific through the icy waters of the strait now bearing his name. After he arrives in the Philippines, his achievements cloud his judgment to such a degree that he is killed in 1521 while leading a pointless assault on the village of a rebellious chief. His crew continues on, arriving back in Spain, emaciated and cramped into one remaining ship with a cargo of spices, three full years after setting out. Research includes original documents and subsequent narratives of the voyage, as well as the author's firsthand experiences along the coast of southern South America, but Joyner proves unequal to the task of conveying either the spirit of this momentous event or of the remarkable man behind it. (Ninety illustrations.)
Pub Date: April 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-87742-263-X
Page Count: 368
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1992
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
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