As always, Kaminer urges people to think, to get to the nub (she says of Timothy McVeigh’s closed-circuit TV execution:...
Kaminer (Sleeping with Extra-Terrestrials, 1999, etc.) makes a strong case for the vibrant protection of constitutional liberties, particularly when perceptions of fear have gripped the citizenry.
“People have a right to their stupidities,” jibes Kaminer as she goes about biting the ankles of those eager to curtail the expression of those stupidities as well as the right of dissent and holding unpopular opinions, our moral right to have moral preferences. In this collection of some four dozen pieces, mostly from the pages of the American Prospect, Kaminer explains her mistrust of government—the reins of power—as essential to maintaining the liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. She is wary when asked by politicians to curtail the rights of others, especially at times of national unease, as in the wake of the World Trade Center attacks. She suggests that we should always ask ourselves why we are assenting to the enhancement of power in individual hands—say, executive power, or, worse yet, committee—at the expense of constitutional rights to all. How will this devolution of responsibility play out in the long run? “Censorship campaigns often begin with a drive to protect children (or women), but they rarely end there,” she says of the movement to curb popular entertainments. She sticks close to our civil liberties and rights, striving for a sense of balance (“For freedom’s sake, we all have to tolerate being vilified, embarrassed, or harassed, but freedom will survive if we acknowledge a right not to be terrorized”) in often tricky terrain like virtual child pornography or the legal difference between the advocacy of unpopular ideas or acts and the incitement of them.
As always, Kaminer urges people to think, to get to the nub (she says of Timothy McVeigh’s closed-circuit TV execution: “Public viewing of executions is less important than public scrutiny of capital cases”), to refuse to be treated like children by a government of power seekers.Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2002
ISBN: 0-8070-4411-3
Page Count: 236
Publisher: Beacon Press
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2002
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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