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ALIEN CONTACT

Name: ALIEN CONTACT
Author: Timothy Good
ISBN: 0-688-12223-X

TOP-SECRET UFO FILES REVEALED

by Timothy Good ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 22, 1993

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Not only do the aliens walk among us but, until recently, they were working tentacle-in-hand with the US military—or so British ufologist Good (Above Top Secret, 1988) implies in this erratically organized, incredible report. While Good's earlier book made a well-documented case for clandestine federal involvement in UFO research, this more anectodal study will convert few to the cause. Despite the tantalizing subtitle, much of what Good presents is familiar fare, beginning with his selection of reported run-ins between aircraft and UFOs. He focuses next on the provocative (and well-covered elsewhere) controversy about alleged UFO culpability in cattle mutilations. A close-up look at strange doings at a Colorado ranch plagued by mutilations sheds more mystery than light (``At about two a.m...a mechanical-sounding voice was heard coming from all the radio and TV speakers....`Attention. We have allowed you to remain. We have interfered with your lives very little. Do not cause us to take action which you will regret' ''), while Good's rapid-fire rundown of assorted purported human-alien contacts rehashes old cases like the Roswell incident (alien bodies recovered in 1947 in New Mexico). A gnarly discussion of intelligence community disinformation about UFOs follows, leading to Good's core case: the testimony of physicist Bob Lazar, who claims to have worked at an Air Force test site in Nevada where he tinkered with extraterrestrial craft and learned that aliens had been in ``liaison'' with the military until a 1979 ``incident'' resulted in the death of 66 humans and the flight of the ETs, who left their craft behind. Good does admit that Lazar's credibility has been shaken by a recent conviction for pimping. True believers will be interested to learn that Jesus may have been a ``genetically engineered'' alien; others will want to pass in favor of the more grounded work of Jacques Vallee (Revelations, 1991, etc.). (Photographs—not seen.)

Pub Date: April 22, 1993

ISBN: 0-688-12223-X

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1993

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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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.