A chilling portrait of genius in the yoke of authoritarianism.
The evolution of a self-described “batshit-crazy CEO.”
Alex Karp, the subject of Haverford College classmate Steinberger’s engrossing biography, fell into the orbit of libertarian and far-right activist Peter Thiel and became the CEO of Palantir Technologies, a data analytics giant. Indeed, although “an outlier in the tech industry” by any measure, in 2020 he was the highest-paid CEO of a publicly traded company, bringing down $1.1 billion in compensation, a level of wealth made possible by a nonstop string of huge post-9/11 government contracts. Granted, some of Palantir’s efforts have had broadly beneficial results: One of its software packages was used to develop new drugs, track foodborne illnesses, and help deliver food to refugees. But more, Palantir’s fortunes were closely linked to the U.S. intelligence community and military, even though, at the company’s start, writes Steinberger, “neither Thiel nor his associates had ever worked with the government…and had no clue as to how counterterrorism analysts wanted information presented.” Good engineering made up for that. And while at first Karp held out for privacy controls by which, in the case of one program, “users were able to access only information that they were authorized to view,” those niceties fell by the wayside in time: “Palantir landed contracts with a number of federal agencies, including the FBI, the IRS, the SEC, the Department of Homeland Security,” writes the author. As for Karp? Despite having been a biracial student of the German social philosopher Jürgen Habermas who “had written his dissertation on the rhetoric of fascism”—and who indeed once told Steinberger, “My biggest fear is fascism”—the former “neo-socialist” is all in for Trump, denouncing the Democratic Party as “woke, pagan ideology.” But as MAGA champion Nick Fuentes said, “If Palantir isn’t the Deep State, then what is?”
A chilling portrait of genius in the yoke of authoritarianism.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781668012956
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Avid Reader Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
A charming and often poignant valediction from rock ’n’ roll’s Prince of Darkness.
The late heavy metal legend considers his mortality in this posthumous memoir.
“I ain’t ready to go anywhere,” writes Osbourne in the opening pages of his new memoir. “It’s good being alive. I like it. I want to be here with my family.” Given the context—Osbourne died on July 22, 2025, two weeks after the publisher announced the news of this book—it’s undeniably sad. But the rest of the text sees the Black Sabbath singer confronting the health struggles of his last years with dark humor and something approaching grace. The memoir begins in 2018; he wrote an earlier one, I Am Ozzy, in 2010. He tells of a staph infection he suffered that proved to be the start of a long, painful battle with various illnesses—soon after, he contracted a flu, which morphed into pneumonia. A spinal injury caused by a fall followed, causing him to undergo a series of surgeries and leaving him struggling with intense pain. And then there was his diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, the treatment of which was complicated by his longtime struggle with alcohol and drug addiction. Osbourne peppers the chronicle of his final years with anecdotes from his past, growing up in Birmingham, England, and playing with—and then being fired from—Black Sabbath, and some of his most well-known antics (yes, he does address biting the heads off of a dove and a bat). He writes candidly and regretfully about the time he viciously attacked his wife, Sharon—the book is in many ways a love letter to her and his children. The memoir showcases Osbourne’s wit and charm; it’s rambling and disorganized, but so was he. It functions as both a farewell and a confession, and fans will likely find much to admire in this account. “Death’s been knocking at my door for the last six years, louder and louder,” he writes. “And at some point, I’m gonna have to let him in.”
A charming and often poignant valediction from rock ’n’ roll’s Prince of Darkness.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781538775417
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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