While the absorbing text includes statistical assurances as to air travel's relative safety, its behind-the-scenes reportage...
Just when you thought it was safe to fly away on a summer holiday, along comes this almost indecently gleeful reminder that the sky, even more than the sea, can be terribly unforgiving of mistakes.
If the author (a freelance journalist) is not on a par with Arthur Hailey as a storyteller, he's at least as good as the pop novelist at evoking the workaday routines of a commercial aviation hub, in this case New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Wittingly or not, however, Kaplan accentuates the negative in his episodic take on JFK, starting with the inadequate roadway system that guarantees traffic jams at almost any hour of the day or night around the five main terminal buildings, which handle over 31 million passengers a year. He goes on to provide chilling recaps of fatal jetliner crashes at JFK (and elsewhere), segueing into accounts of how emergency crews are trained to deal with and avert such disasters. Covered as well are the air-traffic controllers, cab drivers, cops, customs inspectors, firefighters, flight attendants, immigration officials, mechanics, pilots, and other specialists needed to keep the Big Apple's gateway to a wider world operating. Of particular interest is the enterprising physician, now retired, who had JFK's lucrative medical concession, which treats drug smugglers who have ingested their contraband as well as the victims of heart attacks, industrial accidents, and a host of assorted mishaps. Kaplan probes the reasons why JFK's poorly protected cargo facilities have been a magnet for organized crime; and on the strength of a free ride to Heathrow in the SST Concorde, he explores fear of flying—or, more precisely, crashing.
While the absorbing text includes statistical assurances as to air travel's relative safety, its behind-the-scenes reportage on JFK is not calculated to instill much confidence in either frequent or occasional fliers.Pub Date: Aug. 22, 1994
ISBN: 0-688-09247-0
Page Count: 326
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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