A chilling, compellingly written exploration of Russian politics.
An in-depth examination of the rise and fall of a Russian oligarch.
Russian scholar Knight, author of Orders To Kill: The Putin Regime and Political Murder (2017), here delves into the role of ill-fated oligarch Boris Berezovsky in aiding the rise of Vladimir Putin to power. The son of a Jewish civil engineer, Berezovsky’s relatively comfortable upbringing allowed him to pursue a career in scientific research, a background the author contrasts with Putin’s hardscrabble childhood. While Berezovsky parlayed his scientific knowledge into business partnerships with Russian automobile manufacturers, Putin saw his path to advancement in working for the KGB. Knight traces the two men’s separate careers to the point of their first encounter in October 1991 and their subsequent influence with Boris Yeltsin. (Using his wealth to gain control of television networks and print media, Berezovsky was instrumental in helping Yeltsin deflect accusations of corruption and stay in office, thereby ensuring the rise of Putin, Yeltsin’s handpicked successor.) Knight’s thorough research and broad comprehension of Russian politics since the Soviet era allows her to deftly draw linkages between the events that led to Berezovsky’s downfall as she also notes aspects of Berezovsky’s personality that contributed to his demise: “…Putin seems to have wisely grasped that such cautious behavior was the only way to survive—and get ahead—in the highly dysfunctional and unpredictable Kremlin. Such wisdom eluded the mercurial Berezovsky.” The author details how Berezovsky’s support of Kremlin whistleblower Alexander Litvinenko and his public chiding of Putin in the media were countered by a steady effort to destroy Berezovsky’s already shady reputation abroad. The result, as Knight astutely points out, was that Berezovsky’s warnings about Russian authoritarianism went largely unheeded: “His ambition took precedence over concerns about Russia’s democratic development, and his hubris blinded him to the dangers of Putin’s rise to power until it was too late. But he was far from alone in failing to recognize Putin for who he was.”
A chilling, compellingly written exploration of Russian politics.Pub Date: May 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781501775086
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: yesterday
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Maher calls out idiocy wherever he sees it, with a comedic delivery that veers between a stiletto and a sledgehammer.
The comedian argues that the arts of moderation and common sense must be reinvigorated.
Some people are born snarky, some become snarky, and some have snarkiness thrust upon them. Judging from this book, Maher—host of HBO’s Real Time program and author of The New New Rules and When You Ride Alone, You Ride With bin Laden—is all three. As a comedian, he has a great deal of leeway to make fun of people in politics, and he often delivers hilarious swipes with a deadpan face. The author describes himself as a traditional liberal, with a disdain for Republicans (especially the MAGA variety) and a belief in free speech and personal freedom. He claims that he has stayed much the same for more than 20 years, while the left, he argues, has marched toward intolerance. He sees an addiction to extremism on both sides of the aisle, which fosters the belief that anyone who disagrees with you must be an enemy to be destroyed. However, Maher has always displayed his own streaks of extremism, and his scorched-earth takedowns eventually become problematic. The author has something nasty to say about everyone, it seems, and the sarcastic tone starts after more than 300 pages. As has been the case throughout his career, Maher is best taken in small doses. The book is worth reading for the author’s often spot-on skewering of inept politicians and celebrities, but it might be advisable to occasionally dip into it rather than read the whole thing in one sitting. Some parts of the text are hilarious, but others are merely insulting. Maher is undeniably talented, but some restraint would have produced a better book.
Maher calls out idiocy wherever he sees it, with a comedic delivery that veers between a stiletto and a sledgehammer.Pub Date: May 21, 2024
ISBN: 9781668051351
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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