A thorough and appropriately alarming analysis of how we made paradise and how it might be saved.
A critical look at the juggernaut of vacation destinations: the beach resort.
Travel and culture writer Stodola interrogates the cultural devotion to the idea of the beach as the perfect place, which is a modern concept. While the Greeks and Romans enjoyed the seas, by the Middle Ages, Europeans wanted nothing to do with the beach; in the 1800s, early seaside vacationers were lured by potential health benefits rather than a love of surf and sand. What the world today thinks of as paradise is “not nature; paradise is nature conquered, nature tamed.” It is far away, endlessly photogenic, and rich with entertainment—and it may or may not include a real beach. This shift of focus away from the literal beach is partly one of necessity: Climate change is making the maintenance and preservation of modern beaches as we know them untenable. Overdevelopment of tropical areas to accommodate skyrocketing numbers of tourists frequently pushes the resources of destinations to the limits, and rising water temperatures, erosion, and increasingly frequent and violent storms threaten the very beaches and communities where these resorts are located. Stodola organizes her book according to locations she has visited, detailing both the similarities of beach vacations across the globe as well as regional differences. She acknowledges the Western gaze that has informed much of what constitutes the traveler’s ideal, but she also emphasizes that the international traveler base is growing and changing. As the global middle class surges in population, especially in countries such as India and China, destinations will have to learn to accommodate an expanding range of tastes. The Covid-19 pandemic gutted international travel and highlighted weaknesses in the tourism industry that have long existed, particularly the overreliance on tourism as a source of income in destination countries, further emphasizing a need for a more intentional way forward if the beach vacation is to continue.
A thorough and appropriately alarming analysis of how we made paradise and how it might be saved.Pub Date: June 28, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-295162-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Ecco/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 18, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
Maher calls out idiocy wherever he sees it, with a comedic delivery that veers between a stiletto and a sledgehammer.
The comedian argues that the arts of moderation and common sense must be reinvigorated.
Some people are born snarky, some become snarky, and some have snarkiness thrust upon them. Judging from this book, Maher—host of HBO’s Real Time program and author of The New New Rules and When You Ride Alone, You Ride With bin Laden—is all three. As a comedian, he has a great deal of leeway to make fun of people in politics, and he often delivers hilarious swipes with a deadpan face. The author describes himself as a traditional liberal, with a disdain for Republicans (especially the MAGA variety) and a belief in free speech and personal freedom. He claims that he has stayed much the same for more than 20 years, while the left, he argues, has marched toward intolerance. He sees an addiction to extremism on both sides of the aisle, which fosters the belief that anyone who disagrees with you must be an enemy to be destroyed. However, Maher has always displayed his own streaks of extremism, and his scorched-earth takedowns eventually become problematic. The author has something nasty to say about everyone, it seems, and the sarcastic tone starts after more than 300 pages. As has been the case throughout his career, Maher is best taken in small doses. The book is worth reading for the author’s often spot-on skewering of inept politicians and celebrities, but it might be advisable to occasionally dip into it rather than read the whole thing in one sitting. Some parts of the text are hilarious, but others are merely insulting. Maher is undeniably talented, but some restraint would have produced a better book.
Maher calls out idiocy wherever he sees it, with a comedic delivery that veers between a stiletto and a sledgehammer.Pub Date: May 21, 2024
ISBN: 9781668051351
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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