A rich survey of just a few of the U.S.’s methods of communication.
Author and photographer Van Sise offers a rich profile of the many languages that are found in the United States.
The author offers brief essays on a range of tongues, including Mohawk, creole dialects such as Alaskan Russian and Afro-Seminole, and Judaeo-Spanish from New York City. That language, for example, was brought to the United States by “Spanish Jews expelled from Iberia [who] fled…to North Africa, Greece, Italy, Turkey, and the Balkans, bringing the medieval Spanish language with them and absorbing, depending on destination, elements of Arabic, Berber, Greek, Italian, Turkish, and Slavic languages.” Numerous others have similarly complex origins, and many are in danger of extinction as their number of native speakers dwindles. Cahuilla, for instance, is an Uto-Aztecan language that’s indigenous to the Palm Springs, California, area and currently has just a few “first-language” speakers—that is, people who were taught Cahuilla first, before English or other languages. Deg Xinag, an Athabaskan language found in only a few villages in Alaska, has only two remaining native speakers. Most of the examples here have Indigenous origins; the Mohawk language is currently experiencing a resurgence, and the Kickapoo Nation was able to shield their traditions by fleeing their traditional homeland around the Great Lakes to Mexico. Other languages are thriving; Plains Sign Language, for example, was featured during the 2023 Super Bowl broadcast. Accompanying many of the short essays are Van Sise’s beautiful photographs showcasing people who speak the languages, such as U.S. Army Maj. Warren Queton, one of 20 Kiowa speakers; he’s shown on a U.S. Army base in uniform, wearing his grandfather’s headdress and taking joy in showing what’s most important to him. In another image, Ojibwe-speaking Alaskan Stella Hunter, wearing a ribbon skirt, observes the northern lights. Overall, the book does a great job of contextualizing the common tragedy of language loss, and it offers an informative sampling of those that still exist.
A rich survey of just a few of the U.S.’s methods of communication.Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2024
ISBN: 9780764368141
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Schiffer
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.
Documenting perilous times.
In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668052273
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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