A well-written theoretical look at the difficulties of postmodern government.
This fourth book by independent scholar and former member of the U.S. Foreign Service Ophuls expresses the author’s ideal vision of contemporary politics.
Political scientist Ophuls attempts to outline a rational view of nation-state politics based on the writings of thinkers such as philosopher Edmund Burke, economist John Maynard Keynes and President Thomas Jefferson. “By orienting civilization toward nonmaterial ends—toward making souls instead of consumers—we can become fully human within the bonds set by nature,” Ophuls writes. The author lays out, in 35 very brief essays, how a pattern language of polity—that is, good design criteria for a nation-state—might look with great specificity, although he doesn’t go into great detail about why they meet his standards; he also doesn’t fully develop a nature metaphor he introduces early on. That said, the author’s ideas, written in thoughtful and sometimes trenchant prose, often prove surprising: “[H]ypocrisy is the vice,” Ophuls writes, “that, in paying tribute to virtue, actually supports morality.” His support of limited government and individual liberties may seem to indicate libertarian leanings, but such a judgment might be shortsighted, given this scholarly book’s complex textures; he cautions that liberty is not license and argues for small but powerful government that can operate in limited but effective ways. Not content to stick with democratic institutions, Ophuls recommends that a nation-state should be run by a wise council of elders, who can rely on “mandarins” to carry out its dictates. People, the author argues, are a mixture of devil and angel; the only way to overcome human nature is through prudence and by taking a long view of state affairs. As he makes his arguments, Ophuls is at home quoting ecologist Wendell Berry and psychologist Carl Jung; the breadth of his sources, as well as his political schema, makes for an engaging, deep reading experience.
A well-written theoretical look at the difficulties of postmodern government.Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-1480073166
Page Count: 132
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A familiar format, but a timely reminder that cities are made up of individuals, each with their own stories.
Portraits in a post-pandemic world.
After the Covid-19 lockdowns left New York City’s streets empty, many claimed that the city was “gone forever.” It was those words that inspired Stanton, whose previous collections include Humans of New York (2013), Humans of New York: Stories (2015), and Humans (2020), to return to the well once more for a new love letter to the city’s humanity and diversity. Beautifully laid out in hardcover with crisp, bright images, each portrait of a New Yorker is accompanied by sparse but potent quotes from Stanton’s interviews with his subjects. Early in the book, the author sequences three portraits—a couple laughing, then looking serious, then the woman with tears in her eyes—as they recount the arc of their relationship, transforming each emotional beat of their story into an affecting visual narrative. In another, an unhoused man sits on the street, his husky eating out of his hand. The caption: “I’m a late bloomer.” Though the pandemic isn’t mentioned often, Stanton focuses much of the book on optimistic stories of the post-pandemic era. Among the most notable profiles is Myles Smutney, founder of the Free Store Project, whose story of reclaiming boarded‑up buildings during the lockdowns speaks to the city’s resilience. In reusing the same formula from his previous books, the author confirms his thesis: New York isn’t going anywhere. As he writes in his lyrical prologue, “Just as one might dive among coral reefs to marvel at nature, one can come to New York City to marvel at humanity.” The book’s optimism paints New York as a city where diverse lives converge in moments of beauty, joy, and collective hope.
A familiar format, but a timely reminder that cities are made up of individuals, each with their own stories.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781250277589
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular...
A neurosurgeon with a passion for literature tragically finds his perfect subject after his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.
Writing isn’t brain surgery, but it’s rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former. Searching for meaning and purpose in his life, Kalanithi pursued a doctorate in literature and had felt certain that he wouldn’t enter the field of medicine, in which his father and other members of his family excelled. “But I couldn’t let go of the question,” he writes, after realizing that his goals “didn’t quite fit in an English department.” “Where did biology, morality, literature and philosophy intersect?” So he decided to set aside his doctoral dissertation and belatedly prepare for medical school, which “would allow me a chance to find answers that are not in books, to find a different sort of sublime, to forge relationships with the suffering, and to keep following the question of what makes human life meaningful, even in the face of death and decay.” The author’s empathy undoubtedly made him an exceptional doctor, and the precision of his prose—as well as the moral purpose underscoring it—suggests that he could have written a good book on any subject he chose. Part of what makes this book so essential is the fact that it was written under a death sentence following the diagnosis that upended his life, just as he was preparing to end his residency and attract offers at the top of his profession. Kalanithi learned he might have 10 years to live or perhaps five. Should he return to neurosurgery (he could and did), or should he write (he also did)? Should he and his wife have a baby? They did, eight months before he died, which was less than two years after the original diagnosis. “The fact of death is unsettling,” he understates. “Yet there is no other way to live.”
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8129-8840-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
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