Administration, left-Republican Susan.nEngeleiter. It seems that its new game,nCareers for Girls, for ages 8-12, lists sixn”careers” for the young players tonselect, and Engeleiter detects a strongnsexist “wrong message to young girls.”nFor among the careers are such outlandishnactivities as “schoolteacher”nand “supermom,” and there is not ansingle listing for “astronaut” or “businessnexecutive.” Furthermore, “therenare no careers requiring physical daringnor strength.” All in all, she complains,nthe game shows an “insensitivity [therenit is again!] to modern realities.”nAll right, how about this for the sixncareers: weightlifter, heavyweightnchampion. President of the UnitednStates, lion tamer, football lineperson,nand sumo wrestler? Ready, girls?nBrought under government interdict,nParker Brothers did what is generallyndone in these situations: run fornthe protection of a praetorian guard ofnthe supposedly oppressed group. Parkernspokeswoman Patricia McGovernnstressed that “the game is purely fornentertainment” (What? Since whennare games supposed to “entertain”?nAren’t all activities merely a search fornthe “politically correct”?), and pointednout that the game was designed by anwoman, the art was produced by anwoman, and the manager was a woman,nso that everyone “involved withnbringing this game to market is female.”nWill that be enough to get ParkernBrothers off the hook? What if itnchanges its name to Parker Sisters?nThen we have the newly proclaimednsin of “inappropriate laughter.” At anfootball game last November, the famouslynrowdy Stanford marchingnband, which in the past had gottennaway with urinating on the playingnfield and with the Flying Genitalianformation, at last “went too far.”nWhich ethnic, racial, or religiousngroup did they offend? None of thenabove; they committed a hate crime bynlaughing about the plight of the spottednThe Retreat From MarriagenCauses and ConsequencesnEdited by Bryce ChristensennA provocative investigation of the unprecedentedndrop in the marriage rate in recent decades, thisntimely volume brings together papers andncommentary from a conference sponsored in May,n1989 by The Family Research Council and thenRockford Institute’s Center on the Family innAmerica. The third volume in the RockfordnInstitute’s Family in America Research Series,nthis book features articles and analysis fromnmore than a dozen prominent scholars including:nHerbert SmithnUniversity of PennsylvanianJack DouglasnUniversity of California,nSan Diegon8/CHRONICLESnJacqueline KasunnHumboldt UniversitynPaul VitznNew York UniversitynMAte’,nNerval GlennnUniversity of Ttexas at AustinnJustice Richard NeelynWest Virginia Supreme Courtnof AppealsnFor your copy, send $20.00 per paperback, $37.25 cloth, plusn$2.00 postage and handling (add 50t for each additional copy) to:nUniversity Press of America, Customer Servicen4720 Boston WaynLanham, MD 20706nnnowl, in a game with spotted owl-riddennUniversity of Oregon. Stanford athleticndirector Alan Cummings promptlynsuspended the band for several games,nand may leave the band at home nextnyear, as requested by Oregon’s directornof athletics. As the band’s managernexplained, the spotted owl’s plight is ansubject Oregonians “can’t joke about.”nNow see here: in the old days,nAmericans joked about the Great Depression,nthey joked about the war,nthey joked about Hitler. If we can’t jokenabout the spotted owl, are we still an”free country”?n—Murray RothbardnVALERIO MAGRELLI, whose poetrynis found in this issue, was born innRome in 1957. He studied literaturenand philosophy, an intertwining of interestsnthat one sees reflected in hisnmature poetic style. Magrelli begannpublishing in 1977. From the beginningnMagrelli’s work was recognized asnespecially accomplished, and manyncritics consider him the most promisingnpoet of his generation. A trained linguist,nMagrelli has been quite active asna translator, publishing in both periodicalsnand books his versions mainly fromnthe French (Veriaine, Stendhal, Mallarme,nValery, Vian, and others).nMagrelli has published two collectionsnof his own poetry, each of which hasnwon a major award. The Premio Mondellonwent to Ora serrata retinae inn1980, and Nature e venature (1987)nreceived the highly prestigious PremionViareggio. He lives in Rome with hisnwife and young son.nMagrelli’s poetry combines cool intellectualismnwith intense but understatednemotion. The exceptional beautynof Magrelli’s poetry comes fromnboth the stunning, originality of hisnmetaphors and the subtle counterpointnhe creates between secrecy and revelation.nWhile there is usually a touch ofndry humor in his poems, the subjectsnthey discuss — love, loss, creativity, andnintrospection — are never trivialized.nIn an utterly modern way Magrelli hasnrevivified the traditional dialectic betweennbody and soul, intellect andnemotion, desire and achievement thatnhas distinguished Italian lyric poetrynsince Dante and Petrarch.n— Dana Gioian