An exemplary biography of a true public servant, especially refreshing in today’s toxic political climate.
A well-worth-the-effort doorstop study of an indispensable American jurist.
In this powerhouse portrait, Snyder, a professor of constitutional law and legal history, offers a definitive life of Felix Frankfurter (1882-1965), the often misrepresented justice appointed by Franklin Roosevelt who served during an era of liberal sea change in the Supreme Court—best illustrated by Brown v. Board of Education. Born in Vienna, Frankfurter moved to the U.S. with his family when he was 12, and he graduated first in his class from Harvard Law School. Throughout his career, he was known for his judicial restraint. He believed that socio-economic change should be primarily effected through the democratic process, via legislative action by elected representatives. Though he was reluctant to allow the highest court to “enter [the] political thicket,” Frankfurter believed its power was essential in securing civil rights for Black Americans. Snyder delves into every aspect of his subject’s extraordinary life: his earliest days as an immigrant immersed in New York City public schools and trying to learn English; his remarkable success in law school and as editor of the Harvard Law Review; his service under his mentor, Henry Stimson, when he was still in his 20s and eager to join Theodore Roosevelt’s crusade for “robust federal government.” As the author writes, “Roosevelt was the leader who could implement James Bradley Thayer’s ideas about limiting judicial review while empowering the federal government.” Other powerful influences included Frankfurter’s “judicial idols,” Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. and Louis D. Brandeis, who championed the notion that law could serve the public good. Above all, Snyder capably demonstrates how Frankfurter “played a major role in the creation of a liberal establishment.” His far-reaching legacy, which the author masterfully captures, can be seen in his writings in the fledgling New Republic, his lifelong mentoring at Harvard Law, and his long career advising presidents and top players across the political spectrum.
An exemplary biography of a true public servant, especially refreshing in today’s toxic political climate.Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-324-00487-5
Page Count: 1008
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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
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