Naipaul on the prowl: three stinging pieces on the "unreal world of imitation"—in Trinidad, Argentina, and the Congo—and a capstone essay on Conrad. Originally published mainly between 1972 and 1975 (three in the New York Review of Books, one in the London Sunday Times), they include working notes, as it were, for the novels Guerrillas (1975) and A Bend in the River (1979). But their interest, individually and as a group, extends beyond Naipaul-watchers. "Michael X and the Black Power Killings in Trinidad," which leads off, is of cource the genesis of Guerrillas; but in this account of the making and unmaking of a would-be revolutionary—mesmerized by English cant and American black-power jargon—Naipaul delivers a body-blow to racial politics: the stupidity and the futility, yes (especially in black-majority Trinidad), but also the horror and the pity. "The Return of Eva Peron," multipartite, is more ruminative. Argentina is collapsing; guerrilla torture (1972) and official torture (1977) are glibly defended. Words, again: imprecations against colonialism, capitalism, police "pigs" in the first instance, invocations of the people's will in the second. "The social-intellectual diversions of the north are transformed"—in this sterile, second-hand society—"into horrible reality." "A New King for the Congo: Mobutu and the Nihilism of Africa" makes its point in the title: where the recent past is wiped out and the present is quicksand, a sham Africanism serves as an anchor. Here we find the beginnings of A Bend in the River—as well as the start of Naipaul's rediscovery ("or discovery") of Conrad as a progenitor, subject of the last brief, rangy essay. One may also discover in Naipaul himself less bitterness than appeared on first, early '70s reading, and more torment. A strong presence, a powerful collection.
Pub Date: March 26, 1980
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Oct. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1980
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorker staff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
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