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HARD STUFF

Name: HARD STUFF
Author: Coleman Young
ISBN: 0-670-84551-5

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF COLEMAN YOUNG

by Coleman Young with Lonnie Wheeler ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1994

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A timely but stubbornly selective autobiography of Detroit's five-time African-American mayor, written with Wheeler (coauthor of Hank Aaron's I Had A Hammer, 1991). The authors tell the parallel stories of a profoundly troubled city—abandoned by the auto industry that had nourished it and becoming for a time the nation's notorious murder capitol—and of the extraordinary man who governed it for 20 years (ill and out-of- favor at age 75, Young chose not to run in the last election). Young grew up in Detroit's Black Bottom neighborhood when it was still a cozy place to live. Tricked out of college because—he says—of his race, he worked at Ford, learned Marxism at the local barbershop, served with the famous Tuskegee Airmen, and immersed himself in left-leaning union activities. He became a local hero after taking on Joe McCarthy's HUAC and, in 1973, was elected mayor when Detroit's racial balance tipped toward African-Americans. In office, Young delivered on many of his promises—most significantly, to divide power through affirmative action where he was empowered to do so, and to tame the police department, whose union newspaper was, he says, still calling blacks ``jungle bunnies'' when he moved into the mayor's waterfront mansion. Here, Young and Wheeler go on to take us through the agonies of grappling with what Young calls ``the damnestdest demographics in America.'' Later on, the former mayor presents a fairly strong case for the imposition of term limits: The man, it seems, was simply overly merged with his city. Since much of the material here on Detroit will be familiar to readers of Ze'ev Chafet's Devil's Night (1990), it's a pity that Young, on his own turf, hasn't told us more about his turbulent relationship with Jesse Jackson, or hasn't been less roguish and elliptical about his personal life. Which is to say that this aptly titled book, while dandy, could have been softer. (Eight pages of b&w photographs)

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1994

ISBN: 0-670-84551-5

Page Count: 334

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1993

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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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.