Whatever the subject—whether “high” or “low”—Trillin writes exquisitely.
A collection of 18 essays, observations, pronouncements and musings on life and folks in Texas.
The earliest piece dates from 1970 and focuses on Lee Otis Johnson, a black community organizer and militant who was convicted of giving one marijuana cigarette to an undercover police officer and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. (One of the contexts of this judicial decision is that the judge’s son had been convicted on a marijuana charge and been given two years’ probation.) New Yorker contributor Trillin (About Alice, 2006, etc.) sensitively probes the racial situation in Houston that led to this outrage. Although he maintains the stance of an objective reporter, it’s clear he’s intent on exposing the inherent inequity of the system. “New Cheerleaders,” a piece dating from 1971, examines the changing racial makeup of Crystal City High School and how that change impacted (among other things) the Anglo understanding that only one of the four cheerleaders would be Mexican-American, a revision that was the result of organizer José Angel Gutiérrez shaking up the local community. Some of Trillin’s pieces are short and funny (on George W. Bush’s mangled syntax, for example, and whether it’s traceable to the wearing of cowboy boots), while others are short and moving, especially the tribute to Molly Ivins that Trillin composed as her eulogy upon her death in 2007. The longest essay scrutinizes the rise and fall of John Bloom (aka Joe Bob Briggs), whose reviews of splatter films and outrageous racial comments divided Dallas in the 1980s.
Whatever the subject—whether “high” or “low”—Trillin writes exquisitely.Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-292-72650-5
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Univ. of Texas
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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
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