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UFO HEADQUARTERS

Name: UFO HEADQUARTERS
Author: Susan Wright
ISBN: 0-312-18530-8

INVESTIGATIONS ON CURRENT EXTRATERRESTRIAL ACTIVITY

by Susan Wright ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1998

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Despite a misleading title (the book is not about what UFOs are up to these days but about the state of our knowledge concerning UFOS and related phenomena), this is a fine piece of reporting. Do UFOs exist, are extraterrestrial visitations real? On such questions, Wright (author of three books in the Star Trek series; co-author of Destination Mars, not reviewed) is something more than an agnostic but less than a true believer. “Something is happening in our skies,” she writes, and she faithfully records the myriad attempts to find out what that something is. She offers detailed reports on individuals and organizations involved in investigating UFOs. Her method is not to dismiss out of hand such activity, but to carefully debunk wild and unsubstantiated claims while reserving judgment on other, more plausible efforts. Central to all she writes is the role of the US government in the study of UFOs. Here she finds a history of secrecy,, duplicity, and evasion that has simply added to the paranoia and suspension of reason (think Heaven’s Gate) surrounding the topic. Government policy has been highly inconsistent. On the one hand, for instance, it has denied the existence of UFOs; on the other hand,, it refuses to release documents on government investigations of UFOs on the grounds of national security. If UFOs don’t exist, the author wonders, how can they be a threat to national security? The government denies investigating UFOs at all, yet Freedom of Information Act documents show it has done so for years. It’s this broader theme of the harm government secrecy does to an open society that makes this more than just another UFO book. The author finds UFO phenomena worthy of study, but study in an open, systematic way. To some, this recommendation is itself the height of folly, yet in the end she simply suggests we “use our eyes to see the world around us” and “record it carefully.” Not bad advice at all.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-312-18530-8

Page Count: 288

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
A POUND OF FLESH
by Susan Wright

- BOOK REVIEW
TO SERVE AND SUBMIT
by Susan Wright

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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.