An engaging story of success, as told by a man who refused to quit.
A debut work of creative nonfiction about the daunting challenges of higher education and the power of perseverance.
Law school is infamously challenging, and Burnside’s experience was no exception. In the fall of 2002, he matriculated into the Appalachian State Law School in rural Virginia, an unheralded institution that hadn’t even officially received its accreditation at the time. Burnside had unfortunately scored low on his LSAT, though, and so he wasn’t exactly a hotly recruited candidate. His first semester was, to put it mildly, inauspicious; his grades were so low that he narrowly missed expulsion and landed precariously on academic probation. Instead of surrendering to unhappy odds, though, the author experienced a conversion of sorts and decided to apply himself to his studies with renewed vigor. He broke up with his beautiful girlfriend, lost many of his other friends, devoted himself unreservedly to his course work, and slowly started to show improvement. He also encountered many obstacles, some of them shocking. A disgruntled student with a gun, for example, showed up on campus and started shooting, murdering the dean and a professor before he was tackled to the ground. An errant mountain blast forced Burnside to vacate his apartment, causing him to find a quiet refuge for study at a Comfort Inn. Even poison ivy hobbled him. It’s no surprise that the author frequently employs the metaphor of war to describe his tormented attempt at reform: “My Appalachian War continued—and I knew exactly where my enemy was.” Readers will know the cheerful outcome from the beginning: Burnside becomes a licensed lawyer in two states and has a successful career as an attorney. This takes the suspense out of the tale but not its principal power as an account of indomitability in the face of adversity. The prose is informal and unpretentious and will keep readers engaged throughout. Some of the story, the author confesses, is fictionalized, including “much of the dialog and some of the characters,” which is an odd choice, given how dramatic the unvarnished truth is on its own. Nonetheless, this will be an inspirational tale for lawyers and nonlawyers alike.
An engaging story of success, as told by a man who refused to quit.Pub Date: May 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0986423802
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Cincinnati Book Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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