A disturbing but insightful look at the brave new reproductive world that is dawning. Anyone assuming civilization isn’t poised at an important crossroads will think otherwise after reading this book. Andrews (Black Power, White Blood, 1996), director of the Institute for Science, Law, and Technology at the Illinois Institute of Technology, has been involved in just about every legal and ethical debate surrounding the murky, evolving world of reproductive technology since the first test tube baby was born—on the day Andrews passed her bar exam, by the way—and she knows it’s complicated territory. She offers insights on cloning, in vitro fertilization, selling sperm and eggs, and selective genetics, in which parents can decide which babies to carry full-term. At one point Andrews poses as a woman interested in choosing sperm from a Nobel-winning scientist via Robert Klark Graham’s Repository for Germinal Choice. Graham believes that a putative general decline in intelligence could be stemmed if the “more able” simply had more babies. Minor glitch: Andrews is single, and Graham’s services are limited to married women. “I need your legal skills,” he tells her. “Come up with a rule where I can give sperm to you, but not have to give it to an unmarried black woman.” In the same chapter Andrews notes the lack of public health regulations stipulating how sperm must be stored. Remarks one California lawyer about Graham’s operation: “If I wanted to open a sperm bank in the deli next to the pastrami, there would be nothing to stop me.” This scary scenario only grows more plausible as Andrews demonstrates that reproductive law and funding are governed more by political expediency than rational thought. Remarkably free of techno-jargon, this fascinating premillennium primer cautions readers about the many legal and ethical potholes awaiting those who venture into such uncharted territory.
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-6080-4
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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