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ROGUE PRIMATE

Name: ROGUE PRIMATE
Author: John A. Livingston
ISBN: 1-57098-058-6

AN EXPLORATION OF HUMAN DOMESTICATION

by John A. Livingston ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1995

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This Canadian naturalist's polemic shows humanity as abandoning a holistic natural order for a self-centered life as a rogue species. Humanity's initial step toward separating itself from wild nature was, in effect, to remake itself into the first domesticated species, argues Livingston (Environmental Studies/York University, Ontario; One Cosmic Instant, 1973, etc.). Just as domestic animals can no longer live the way their wild ancestors did, humans have interposed technology between themselves and nature. The price of this insulation from nature is high: a loss of sensory detail (especially in senses other than sight), homogenization of the human environment, and a sense of life as a competitive enterprise rather than a cooperative one. Citing the primate studies of Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall, Livingston contends that, in the natural world, aggression between members of the same species is so rare as to be pathological. He goes to some length to point out Darwin's (unconscious) adoption of the paradigms of market capitalism as the basis for his theory of natural selectioncreating a picture of nature that fit all the preconceptions of Victorian Englishmen. Livingston stresses the evidence for self-awareness in animals, removing the last barrier between ``higher'' and ``lower'' intelligence. But he also presents the evidence for a form of ``group consciousness'' in natureas in the simultaneous changes of direction of the members of a flock of birds. While Livingston takes potshots at a wide array of easy targets (colonialism, vivisection, fur hunters), he saves the heavy ammo for ``zero-order humanism'': the belief that any action can be justified if it serves the ultimate good of humanity. This way lies the destruction of what remains of the natural world. The problems Livingston sees are real enough, and he articulates them powerfully; but at the end, he has no answers other than somehow getting back in touch with our innate ``wildness.''

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1995

ISBN: 1-57098-058-6

Page Count: 228

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1995

Categories:

NATURE | GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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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.