A well-written overview of Darwin’s formative experiences.
A fresh look at Charles Darwin’s famed voyage.
Drawing on Darwin’s notes and letters as well as those of his acquaintances, Chaffin chronicles the naturalist’s legendary journey on the Beagle. Most readers are familiar with Darwin’s exploration of the Galápagos Islands and his book On the Origin of Species. Chaffin takes us deeper into his subject’s life. “I’ve accorded primacy to writings created during [the Beagle] journeys: his diary, field notebooks, and letters,” he writes. “For further illumination, I’ve also drawn on the correspondence, memoirs, and diaries of others he encountered or traveled with during those years….This lively portrait…lurks just beneath the more public surfaces of Voyage of the Beagle and Origin of Species. Notably, it depicts formative experiences in the naturalist’s life unfound in—in some cases, deliberately excluded from—those two works.” In his late adolescence and early adulthood, Darwin spent many years adrift, bored with schooling and trying to figure out what to do with his life. Through circumstance and opportunity, he boarded the Beagle, which spent considerable time in and around South America. During that time, of course, Darwin kept meticulous notes on plant and animal species. In addition to expected descriptions of the flora and fauna, Chaffin examines the motivations of the expedition’s leaders as well as Darwin’s observations on politics, slavery, Indigenous populations, and his fellow shipmates, who were largely left out of his published works. Additionally, writes the author, while Darwin’s field notes included significant observations about a wide range of natural science topics, “the islands proved, for him, initially disappointing, and provided no eureka moment.” Nonetheless, Chaffin shows how the trip “would lead him to reformulate many past assumptions” and inform his future work. Late in his career, Darwin noted that “the voyage of the Beagle has been by far the most important event in my life and has determined my whole career.”
A well-written overview of Darwin’s formative experiences.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64313-908-1
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Pegasus
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2022
A sharp, entertaining view of the news media from one of its star players.
The veteran newscaster reflects on her triumphs and hardships, both professional and private.
In this eagerly anticipated memoir, Couric (b. 1957) transforms the events of her long, illustrious career into an immensely readable story—a legacy-preserving exercise, for sure, yet judiciously polished and insightful, several notches above the fray of typical celebrity memoirs. The narrative unfolds through a series of lean chapters as she recounts the many career ascendency steps that led to her massively successful run on the Today Show and comparably disappointing stints as CBS Evening News anchor, talk show host, and Yahoo’s Global News Anchor. On the personal front, the author is candid in her recollections about her midlife adventures in the dating scene and deeply sorrowful and affecting regarding the experience of losing her husband to colon cancer as well as the deaths of other beloved family members, including her sister and parents. Throughout, Couric maintains a sharp yet cool-headed perspective on the broadcast news industry and its many outsized personalities and even how her celebrated role has diminished in recent years. “It’s AN ADJUSTMENT when the white-hot spotlight moves on,” she writes. “The ego gratification of being the It girl is intoxicating (toxic being the root of the word). When that starts to fade, it takes some getting used to—at least it did for me.” Readers who can recall when network news coverage and morning shows were not only relevant, but powerfully influential forces will be particularly drawn to Couric’s insights as she tracks how the media has evolved over recent decades and reflects on the negative effects of the increasing shift away from reliable sources of informed news coverage. The author also discusses recent important cultural and social revolutions, casting light on issues of race and sexual orientation, sexism, and the predatory behavior that led to the #MeToo movement. In that vein, she expresses her disillusionment with former co-host and friend Matt Lauer.
A sharp, entertaining view of the news media from one of its star players.Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-316-53586-1
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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