The analogy to a military history is well fulfilled by this literate, compendious chronicle of the marketing of aspirin and its analgesic rivals, starting with the drug's final formulation in the late 1800's and ending with its current ``repositioning'' as a heart-attack preventive. According to Mann (a contributing editor to Science and The Atlantic) and Plummer, here we have a perfect history of medical hype: Aspirin's pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory effects are verifiable and even miraculous, but because its sole constituent, acetylsalicylic acid, had been known and therefore unpatentable in Germany, it became (along with heroin) one of the first drugs sold not by its chemical name but by its ``brand'': Aspirin. The company that sold it was Bayer of Elberfeld, later to become the monolith I.G. Farben. After WW I, when Germany could no longer transact business in many western nations, the brand name became a free-for- all. Among other things, the battle over market share gave rise to such institutions as the roadside billboard and the FDA. Then along came acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil)—and the plot continues to thicken. A well-told tale of greed, business acumen, and ongoing marketing genius that's also a microcosmic history of law, politics, and medical progress in the 20th century.
Pub Date: Nov. 6, 1991
ISBN: 0-394-57894-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1991
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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