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LIFE SENTENCES

Name: LIFE SENTENCES
Author: Wilbert Rideau
ISBN: 0-8129-1987-4

RAGE AND SURVIVAL BEHIND BARS

by Wilbert Rideau & Ron Wikberg ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 1992

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Strong and disturbing investigative reporting, with a cruel twist: Rideau and Wikberg are both serving life sentences for murder, and do their reporting in The Angolite, the newspaper published by inmates at Louisiana's state prison at Angola. Drawn from the past 15 years or so of The Angolite—which Rideau, a former Death Row inmate, has edited since 1975—the 24 pieces collected here constitute a forceful insider-indictment of our prison system, comparable to the early work of Eldridge Cleaver or Jack Henry Abbott. The writing, much by Rideau, is skilled and the topics volatile—e.g., prison rape, analyzed by Rideau in his 1979 article ``The Sexual Jungle'': ``The act of rape in the ultramasculine world of prison constitutes the ultimate humiliation visited upon the male, the forcing of him to assume the role of a woman.'' Or the problem of long-term prisoners who, forgotten by the outside world and numbed to prison existence, languish their lives away behind bars—exposed in the unsigned and moving ``Conversations with the Dead.'' Expectedly, as a house organ, The Angolite doesn't offer balanced reporting: Little blame is assigned to cons, much to an increasingly—the authors say—retributive society; and some of the pieces here deal with relatively parochial subjects (e.g., the retirement of Angola's warden), while others read like simple filler (a short piece about the filming of a TV- movie at the prison). Still, articles on the desolation of dying of old age in prison, the history of methods of execution in America, and the degradation of life on Death Row more than compensate for the floss. As one writer points out here, the US ``possesses the highest confinement rate in the world''—making a passionate, intelligent, informed report like this, no matter its bias, important reading for all concerned with the state of American justice. (Photos—not seen.)

Pub Date: July 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-8129-1987-4

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Times/Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1992

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.