A wonderfully fun book showing that the art of having a good time has not been lost.
An entertaining look at a vibrant, “interactive, interpretive, and immersive” pop-culture community.
There was a time when cosplay—dressing up in costumes based on characters from movies, TV shows, comic books, or video games—was seen as a marginal, geeky pastime. In the past couple decades, however, it has gone mainstream, turning into an avenue for enjoyment and escape for vast numbers of people. Liptak, a journalist and proud cosplayer, walks through the history, noting that Jules Verne once held a party where the guests could dress as a character from one of his novels. Modern cosplay began with the first Star Wars movie. Liptak was enthralled with the uniforms of the stormtroopers; when he wanted to make his own, he found out that many other people did, too. This was the beginning of the 501st Legion, the largest Star Wars cosplay group, with more than 15,000 members. The association conducts charity fundraisers and performs other good works, but most of the members like to compare tips to bring their costumes ever closer to the source material. Of course, the internet has allowed cosplay to flourish, and there is a remarkable number of conventions and gatherings around the world, celebrating everything from Star Trek to sexual role play. Liptak notes that the nature of cosplay events has changed in the past few years, with a higher turnover of characters and more anime heroes. The technology for making costumes has also changed, with 3-D printers adding a new dimension. The moviemaking studios were initially wary of cosplaying, pointing to the potential for copyright infringement, but they came to accept and embrace it (as long as it doesn’t affect their merchandise profits). Some cosplayers have turned their hobby into a business, but most just want to enjoy the ride. Liptak renders all of these community-building adventures with aplomb.
A wonderfully fun book showing that the art of having a good time has not been lost.Pub Date: June 28, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5344-5582-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 23, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.
Documenting perilous times.
In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668052273
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
IN THE NEWS
PERSPECTIVES
An incisive, urgently relevant analysis of—and call to action on—America’s foundational ideal.
An examination of how the U.S. can revitalize its commitment to freedom.
In this ambitious study, Snyder, author of On Tyranny, The Road to Unfreedom, and other books, explores how American freedom might be reconceived not simply in negative terms—as freedom from coercion, especially by the state—but positive ones: the freedom to develop our human potential within sustaining communal structures. The author blends extensive personal reflections on his own evolving understanding of liberty with definitions of the concept by a range of philosophers, historians, politicians, and social activists. Americans, he explains, often wrongly assume that freedom simply means the removal of some barrier: “An individual is free, we think, when the government is out of the way. Negative freedom is our common sense.” In his careful and impassioned description of the profound implications of this conceptual limitation, Snyder provides a compelling account of the circumstances necessary for the realization of positive freedom, along with a set of detailed recommendations for specific sociopolitical reforms and policy initiatives. “We have to see freedom as positive, as beginning from virtues, as shared among people, and as built into institutions,” he writes. The author argues that it’s absurd to think of government as the enemy of freedom; instead, we ought to reimagine how a strong government might focus on creating the appropriate conditions for human flourishing and genuine liberty. Another essential and overlooked element of freedom is the fostering of a culture of solidarity, in which an awareness of and concern for the disadvantaged becomes a guiding virtue. Particularly striking and persuasive are the sections devoted to eviscerating the false promises of libertarianism, exposing the brutal injustices of the nation’s penitentiaries, and documenting the wide-ranging pathologies that flow from a tax system favoring the ultrawealthy.
An incisive, urgently relevant analysis of—and call to action on—America’s foundational ideal.Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9780593728727
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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