THE BEST AMERICAN MAGAZINE WRITING 2008

Name: THE BEST AMERICAN MAGAZINE WRITING 2008
Author: American Society of Magazine Editors
ISBN: 978-0-231-14714-9

edited by American Society of Magazine Editors ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 2008

Significance and relevance delivered by way of superlative prose and keen journalistic investigation.

bookshelf

Consistent excellence distinguishes this annual series, and while all 20 selections are brilliant in their own right, the most contemporary ones steal the show.

The collection opens with “Everybody Sucks” (New York), Vanessa Grigoriadis’s clever analysis of the “weird fascination” exerted by the media-gossip blog gawker.com, which published derisive commentary about her and her husband the day after she was married. Several investigative pieces report from overseas: Peter Hessler scrutinizes the exploding economic consumerism of newly created “factory towns” in “China’s Instant Cities” (National Geographic), and William Langewiesche vets Brazil’s dubious state of governmental protection and general safety in “City of Fear” (Vanity Fair). Shards of irony tinge the humorous essays of social critic Caitlin Flanagan, who logs onto some young-adult, profile-based websites in “Babes in the Woods” (The Atlantic), and of Christopher Hitchens, who skewers the blatant hypocrisy marinating the Larry Craig foot-tapping scandal in his brief, brilliant commentary, “So Many Men’s Rooms, So Little Time” (Slate). Striking profiles include Steve Oney’s moving portrait of Marine Corps corporal Chris Leon, a young soldier serving in the war-ravaged city of Ramadi who perished at the hands of a sniper (“Casualties of War,” Los Angeles); “Pat Dollard’s War on Hollywood” (Vanity Fair), in which Evan Wright amusingly trails the eccentric man who abandoned Tinseltown in favor of a life producing documentaries; and Paige Williams’s touching portrayal of the tragic yet amazing spiritual journey of a fearless teenager (“You Have Thousands of Angels Around You,” Atlanta). Most disturbing is Thomas E. Kennedy’s harrowing “I Am Joe’s Prostate” (New Letters), a slice of real-life journalism that intimately describes the kind of invasive procedures that have been keeping men away from the doctor’s office for centuries.

Significance and relevance delivered by way of superlative prose and keen journalistic investigation.

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2008

ISBN: 978-0-231-14714-9

Page Count: 528

Publisher: Columbia Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2008

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BEST AMERICAN MAGAZINE WRITING 2011
by American Society of Magazine Editors

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BEST AMERICAN MAGAZINE WRITING 2007
edited by American Society of Magazine Editors

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BEST AMERICAN MAGAZINE WRITING 2005
edited by American Society of Magazine Editors

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.