Fascinating, well-researched account of how immigration and public health have influenced each other in the American experience. Kraut (History/American University; Huddled Masses, etc.— not reviewed) asserts that ``the double helix of health and fear that accompanies immigration continues to mutate, producing malignancies on the culture.'' Current fears about AIDS and Haitian refugees, for example, echo the concern of Californians in the early 1900's over bubonic plague and Chinese immigrants and that of easterners in the 1830's over cholera and Irish immigrants. Kraut examines the nativist prejudices that can stigmatize an entire group as a health menace and shows how scientific medicine has been used by some Americans to advocate exclusion and by others to promote assimilation. Further, he looks at how national, state, and local governments have codified and regulated public-health issues and what the immigrant response has been. Kraut vividly and sympathetically describes the inspection of newcomers at Ellis Island, using both oral history sources and excerpts from the US Public Health Service's Book of Instructions for the Medical Inspection of Immigrants. He demonstrates how health care became a cultural battleground involving the home, the hospital, and the corner drugstore as folk healers and midwives met opposition from physicians and home health nurses, and as quackery thrived. Reliance on Old World remedies—such as tying a potato to the wrist to reduce a fever or using charms to ward off the evil eye—conflicted with the health advice published by such groups as the DAR, eager to turn immigrants into robust Americans. B&w illustrations include photographs that depict actual conditions, as well as drawings that reveal prevalent attitudes and misperceptions.) Absorbing and sobering illumination of a dark corner of the American psyche.
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 1994
ISBN: 0-465-07823-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Basic Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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