That Harriet Chalmers Adams's extraordinary life is worthy of a biography is certain, but little of her life comes through in this confusing entry in the Notable Americans series. Anema dates Harriet's fascination with travel to a trip on horseback with her father exploring California's mountains when she was only two. Harriet was hooked, and would spend the rest of her life traveling all over the globe, then writing and lecturing about her experiences. In 1899 she met and married Frank Adams, and they began a lifelong journey that would take them to places few US citizens had seen. Harriet was only the third woman to become a member of the Royal Geographic Society of London, but that never compensated for the American National Geographic Society's refusal to grant her full membership. Frustrated, Harriet founded the Society of Woman Geographers. Place names come up constantly, but no sense of place emerges; the dangers Adams faced don't seem real, and the maps aren't helpful. Expressions are used throughout that many readers won't understand (e.g., ``The group left their horses at a rubber camp''), while quotes from Adams's writings, which appear frequently, are usually out of context, e.g., ``Life is triste,'' but readers never find out why. (b&w photos, maps, bibliography, index) (Biography. 10-14)
Pub Date: March 7, 1997
ISBN: 1-883846-18-8
Page Count: 112
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1997
This oversized, handsome book is an excellent introduction to one of America’s great photographers and her work, which influenced generations of others who followed her craft. Rubin (Toilets, Toasters, and Telephones, 1998, etc.) covers Bourke- White’s life chronologically, from her youth, when she wanted nothing more than to be a herpetologist, through her college years, when she first took a photography class, to her subsequent struggle to find her place in a largely male-dominated profession, photojournalism. By the time she was 30, Bourke-White had made her mark, and was able to earn a handsome living as she traveled the world, not only consorting with presidents and princes, but photographing some of the planet’s most wretched places, including concentration camps. Some of her most powerful photographs illustrate the book, and also give an insight into era in which she earned her place as an artist. Rubin makes clear that Bourke-White’s reputation continues to grow, providing researchers and browsers alike with a warm, admiring glimpse of a woman and her times. (notes, bibliography, index) (Biography. 10-13)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8109-4381-6
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
In a sequel to the well-received I Have Lived a Thousand Years (1997, not reviewed), Bitton-Jackson writes of her life as Elli Friedmann in 1945, when she, her brother, and mother were liberated from Auschwitz and sent back to their former home in Czechoslovakia. Finding only a shell of the place they had known, they struggled to rebuild some semblance of life and waited for the return of Elli’s father. When they realized he was gone for good, their only hope through all their efforts was the prospect of obtaining papers that would allow them to emigrate to America. Through the long years that they waited, Elli found work teaching, and helping other Jews escape to Palestine, a dangerous and illegal undertaking. When they finally arrived in New York City, relatives welcomed them; an epilogue collapses most of the author’s adult life into a few paragraphs so readers will know the directions her life took. Interesting and inspiring, this story makes painfully clear how the fight to survive extended well beyond the war years; the discomforts and obstacles the author faced and articulates in such riveting detail will make readers squirm at the security and ease of their own lives. (Memoir. 12-14)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-689-82026-7
Page Count: 258
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
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