Burstein

The Passions of Andrew Jackson, by Andrew Burstein. Alfred A. Knopf. 320 pages. $25. Andrew Jackson is a compelling historical figure whose life reads like a soap opera, replete with violence, betrayal, scandal, intrigue, heroism and great achievements. Frequently listed among the great American presidents, he is an enduring political figure whose name is often mentioned in the same breath as that of Thomas Jefferson. Andrew Burstein is a history professor at the University of Tulsa who has established himself as an epistolary detective, student of language and historical psychoanalyst in three previous books: Sentimental Democracy, The Inner Jefferson and America's Jubilee.

The documentary American Teen is the most realistic movie you will see all summer. Nonetheless, I'm convinced it was made by a sci-fi character. To go so deeply under the skin of a handful of high-schoolers in Warsaw, Ind., and to chronicle their lives so fully, Nanette Burstein must be an "empath" from Minority Report, able to sense other people's most surprising moves. Burstein followed five main characters through their senior year in 2006. Colin Clemens, a hoops star, is desperate to win a college basketball scholarship - his father tells him the Army is his only alternative.

Arnon Goldfinger's group portrait of the Yiddish actor and song-and-dance man Pesach'ke Burstein and his family troupe is the documentary equivalent of a page-turner, filled with anecdotes that echo through a century-spanning saga and moments that define more than one generation at a time. Born into the tight-knit, observant Jewish communities of Eastern Europe in 1906 (he lived first in Poland, then in Russia), Burstein fled home at age 15, when he hooked up with a traveling Yiddish troupe.

Can documentaries be too good to be true? Critics and audiences have been debating that question as gifted filmmakers use traditional fictional tools to make factual stories as compelling as cutting-edge comedies or dramas. Nanette Burstein's American Teen and James Marsh's Man on Wire, which open Friday in Baltimore, are two of the year's best documentaries - and best movies. Yet, Burstein has been accused of manipulating a handful of teenagers into a new-millennial The Breakfast Club.

Promoter Don King has filed a federal lawsuit against Baltimore native Hasim Rahman, charging that he is entitled to half of the $4.2 million purse the ex-champion will earn for fighting World Boxing Council heavyweight Vitali Klitschko in November. The suit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court's Southern District in Manhattan, charges the money is owed King in accordance with a contractual agreement granted in the event that King lost the purse bid to be the primary promoter for Rahman's title bout.

For almost a half-century, U.S. policy toward Japan was simple and largely successful: Keep its Far Eastern ally a strong and loyal bulwark against neighboring Communist states.But ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union made this strategy irrelevant, Washington has come up empty-handed in rethinking its Cold War policy toward Japan -- underscored by the astonishing fact that former Secretary of State James Baker visited Mongolia more often than Japan.As policy wonks have replaced Cold Warriors in the White House, U.S.-Japanese relations are, more than ever, at a pivotal point.

On Monday, July 11, 2005, JACKCWEIBER, beloved husband of Bernice Cweiber (nee Silverman); devoted father of Shlomo Cweiber, Bruce Cweiber, John Cweiber, Brad Cweiber and Wendy Burstein; dear father-in-law of Gayle Cweiber, Giti Cweiber, Mimi Cweiber and Peter Burstein; dear step-father of Mark Max, Alana Miller and Cindy Adelsberg; dear step-father-in-law of Lisa Max, Ira Miller and Keith Adelsberg. Also survived by 18 loving grandchildren and five loving great-grandchildren. Services at SOL LEVINSON BROTHERS HOME, 8900 Reisterstown Road at Mount Wilson Lane, on Tuesday, July 12 at 3 P.M. Interment Beth El Memorial Park, Randallstown.

It's not easy wearing your insides on your outsides.But for 18 years, mild-mannered John Burstein has slipped his 5-foot-10, 155-or-so-pound frame into a skintight bodysuit with organs, muscles and skeletal structure painted on to become Slim Goodbody.He doesn't profess to be a man of steel, but after dispensing health tips to millions of children, he bills himself "America's Health Hero."Recently, the 42-year-old New Yorker pondered his life as Slim Goodbody.It has meant nearly two decades of exercise and moderate eating.

OK, SO CONGRESS sends blocks of money back to the states to take care of welfare, education, housing. What's the guarantee that money will go to the public good rather than private gain?Money is fungible, right? A dollar for a school breakfast looks exactly like a dollar spent for a tax break. What's to stop a state from shifting its money around, short-changing public advancement while subsidizing private accumulation?It's a real worry -- and not just of some granny-gowned liberals. The shifting of money set aside for public good to private gain is a real worry of two top officials of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

Can documentaries be too good to be true? Critics and audiences have been debating that question as gifted filmmakers use traditional fictional tools to make factual stories as compelling as cutting-edge comedies or dramas. Nanette Burstein's American Teen and James Marsh's Man on Wire, which open Friday in Baltimore, are two of the year's best documentaries - and best movies. Yet, Burstein has been accused of manipulating a handful of teenagers into a new-millennial The Breakfast Club.

Baltimore native Hasim Rahman, revealing a debt of more than $5 million, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Las Vegas. The filing records show that Rahman, who will earn $4.2 million for his scheduled World Boxing Council title fight against champion Vitali Klitschko on Nov. 12, lists 20 creditors to whom he owes the money. Rahman's biggest creditors are listed as the Internal Revenue Service, at slightly more than $2 million, and his four-year promoter, Don King, at $2 million even.

Promoter Don King has filed a federal lawsuit against Baltimore native Hasim Rahman, charging that he is entitled to half of the $4.2 million purse the ex-champion will earn for fighting World Boxing Council heavyweight Vitali Klitschko in November. The suit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court's Southern District in Manhattan, charges the money is owed King in accordance with a contractual agreement granted in the event that King lost the purse bid to be the primary promoter for Rahman's title bout.

On Monday, July 11, 2005, JACKCWEIBER, beloved husband of Bernice Cweiber (nee Silverman); devoted father of Shlomo Cweiber, Bruce Cweiber, John Cweiber, Brad Cweiber and Wendy Burstein; dear father-in-law of Gayle Cweiber, Giti Cweiber, Mimi Cweiber and Peter Burstein; dear step-father of Mark Max, Alana Miller and Cindy Adelsberg; dear step-father-in-law of Lisa Max, Ira Miller and Keith Adelsberg. Also survived by 18 loving grandchildren and five loving great-grandchildren. Services at SOL LEVINSON BROTHERS HOME, 8900 Reisterstown Road at Mount Wilson Lane, on Tuesday, July 12 at 3 P.M. Interment Beth El Memorial Park, Randallstown.

CLAYTON, Mo. - Marshall Burstein, man of action, is stuck. "I run a company or two; I have to be decisive," he said. But when it comes to choosing the next president, the 44-year-old Burstein is waiting to see whom Sen. John Kerry picks as a running mate. And he wants to hear the presumed Democratic nominee and President Bush debate. "A lot of people are picking Kerry because they don't like the war [in Iraq]. ... I'm still learning about him," he said. With the nation clearly divided on a number of issues, the presidential campaigns operating nonstop and torrents of political ads already unleashed, undecided voters are fast becoming an endangered species.

The Passions of Andrew Jackson, by Andrew Burstein. Alfred A. Knopf. 320 pages. $25. Andrew Jackson is a compelling historical figure whose life reads like a soap opera, replete with violence, betrayal, scandal, intrigue, heroism and great achievements. Frequently listed among the great American presidents, he is an enduring political figure whose name is often mentioned in the same breath as that of Thomas Jefferson. Andrew Burstein is a history professor at the University of Tulsa who has established himself as an epistolary detective, student of language and historical psychoanalyst in three previous books: Sentimental Democracy, The Inner Jefferson and America's Jubilee.

In The Kid Stays in the Picture, the voice of Robert Evans - from the notorious audiobook version of his gutter-florid memoir - floats through his palatial estate like the unseen Spirit of Hollywood Past. With the persona of a man who's been around the block - as long as the block you're talking about is Melrose Avenue or Sunset Boulevard - Evans narrates a version of his life that's half storybook and half cautionary fable. The flimsiness of the latter part is a signal failing for this overly slick yet still engaging movie.

Baltimore native Hasim Rahman, revealing a debt of more than $5 million, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Las Vegas. The filing records show that Rahman, who will earn $4.2 million for his scheduled World Boxing Council title fight against champion Vitali Klitschko on Nov. 12, lists 20 creditors to whom he owes the money. Rahman's biggest creditors are listed as the Internal Revenue Service, at slightly more than $2 million, and his four-year promoter, Don King, at $2 million even.

TURNING THE TABLES:A MACHIAVELLIAN STRATEGYFOR DEALING WITH JAPAN.Daniel Burstein.Simon & Schuster.272 pages. $23. Niccolo Machiavelli, the 16th-century Florentine statesman whose blunt treatise on the use (and abuse) of power and strategy inspired generations of autocrats and tyrants in all walks of life, would no doubt find the economic rivalry between Japan and the United States fascinating.It combines, after all, all the elements of the struggle to attain and maintain power that he outlined in "The Prince," the classic political discourse he penned out of a deep frustration with the condition of Italy.

Arnon Goldfinger's group portrait of the Yiddish actor and song-and-dance man Pesach'ke Burstein and his family troupe is the documentary equivalent of a page-turner, filled with anecdotes that echo through a century-spanning saga and moments that define more than one generation at a time. Born into the tight-knit, observant Jewish communities of Eastern Europe in 1906 (he lived first in Poland, then in Russia), Burstein fled home at age 15, when he hooked up with a traveling Yiddish troupe.

Heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman goes to trial today at U.S. District Court in New York, where he faces separate lawsuits from former champ Lennox Lewis and promoter Cedric Kushner charging breach of contract and tortious interference. "I feel like everything's going to work out," said Rahman, 28. Rahman's fifth-round knockout of Lewis on April 21 in South Africa earned the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation crowns. Their contract contained a rematch clause for a return bout within 150 days, but it allowed Rahman an interim fight (not to occur within 60 days of the rematch)