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SERVING THE WORD

Name: SERVING THE WORD
Author: Vincent Crapanzano
ISBN: 1-56584-412-2

LITERALISM IN AMERICA FROM THE PULPIT TO THE BENCH

by Vincent Crapanzano ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2000

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A comprehensive overview of the resurgence of fundamentalist thinking in contemporary American religious and secular life. Crapanzano (Anthropology and Comparative Literature/CUNY; Waiting: The Whites of South Africa, 1985, etc.) offers a critical assessment of increasingly conservative interpretations of both the Bible and our Constitution. The first two-thirds of this study surveys fundamentalist approaches toward religion. Concentrating on the literal word, rather than on its interpretation or application, contends Crapanzano, is ultimately “deadening,” depriving the Bible of its beauty and complexity. Rather than fostering understanding, it silences it and produces a complacency that further widens the gap between believers and the secular. Creating an either-or world, the fundamentalist emphasis on the literal interpretation of the Bible “runs counter to the American emphasis on the individual and his freedom.” Particularly interesting are Crapanzano’s accounts of the role of salvation in the lives of fundamentalists and other evangelicals. Despite their varying experiences and diverse backgrounds, all spoke of the security that a literal interpretation of the Bible offered them. Once they viewed Scripture as a guide to their daily lives, they could more confidently chart those lives. Homosexuality, depression, and abuse were all viewed as practices caused by sin and treatable by biblically based short-term counseling. The final third of this study shifts its focus to the increasingly literal interpretation of the Constitution. Perhaps even more threatening than religious fundamentalism, argues Crapanzano, such a view of the Constitution erodes our fundamental rights. When judges approach the Constitution as though it were a religious document rather than a man-made one, they “give to its words the authority of the Word.” Crapanzano is especially concerned with how judges may decide to interpret individual rights’such as reproductive freedom—that are not mentioned literally in the Constitution. Scholarly, accessible, timely, and significant.

Pub Date: March 1, 2000

ISBN: 1-56584-412-2

Page Count: 432

Publisher: The New Press

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1999

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.