bookshelf

UNEQUAL VERDICTS

Name: UNEQUAL VERDICTS
Author: Timothy Sullivan
ISBN: 0-671-74237-X

THE CENTRAL PARK JOGGER TRIALS

by Timothy Sullivan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1992

bookshelf

Sullivan (news editor of the Courtroom Television Network) analyzes the Central Park Jogger trials in grim and fast-paced fashion. The April 21, 1989, assault on the anonymous woman known only as the ``Central Park jogger'' was not simply a rape. In its grotesque, stomach-churning brutality, the beating and sexual abuse of this lone woman by a gang of youths horrified a city that thought itself accustomed to chronic violence. Sullivan tells the gruesomely fascinating story of how an apparently iron-clad case- -buttressed by videotaped confessions and assisted by rulings of a fair but prosecution-minded judge—became a legal Rashomon: The physical evidence of rape did not link the assault with the defendants; the victim was unable to remember anything of the incident; witnesses could testify to only parts of the case; and defendants recanted much of their confessions and contradicted one another. Sullivan reveals ``how messy, complicated, and imperfect'' the process of searching for truth and justice can be, and how the results of a criminal trial can hinge on procedural minutiae, the political climate in which the trial is held, the skills of prosecutors and defense attorneys, the personalities of judge and jurors, and even the race and socioeconomic class of the victim and the accused. In the end, prosecutor Elizabeth Lederer, whom Sullivan represents as highly skilled and dedicated, was able to achieve convictions, but Sullivan demonstrates that the verdicts, and the sentences for the ten defendants who were convicted (which ranged from 5 to 15 years for rape and assault to one year for robbery), hinged on factors incidental to the actual guilt of the accused. Sullivan shows, disturbingly, that the result of a trial depends on ``a series of haunting `what ifs.' '' An excellent report of an important trial, though saddening and rough on the stomach.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-671-74237-X

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1992

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

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

bookshelf

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

bookshelf

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

bookshelf

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.