Book Log 2009 #46: K Blows Top by Peter Carlson
Highlighting one of the more bizarre moments of US-Soviet relations, K Blows Top recounts the 1959 visit to the US by Nikita Khrushchev. The trip, the result of a mistaken negotiating ploy , was as much farce as diplomacy, with nearly each day punctuated by an emotional outburst by the Soviet premier. It made for great theater (and newspaper copy) then, and it makes for entertaining reading now.
The only drawback to the book, and it's somewhat minimal, is the suggestion from the cover and jacket that the story of the trip intertwines with several of the biggest names of the day. There are appearances by the likes of Sinatra and Monroe, but the most notable brush with celebrity came from Shirley MacLaine, who met Khrushchev when he stopped in to see some of Can-Can being filmed. It's not a real problem, but I do think the blurbs over promise.
Certainly worthwhile for people interested in the 1950s or US-Soviet relations, with the expectation that it's on the lighter side.
30 November 2009
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