his wife discovers tliat lie isnturning into a Peeping Tom, hisnresponse is not shame but annoutraged accusation: “Whatnabout my privacy?” Her answer,n”I didn’t mean irom me!” is thenflashpoint of their brief marriage.nThe title story is the mostnexplicitly philosophical andnseems to approach the metaphysicalnquality of FlannerynO’Connor. In a rare fit of lucidity,nthe schizophrenic mother of andisabled vet “poured gasolinenover herself and burned herselfnto death in the hog bam.” In hernnote, she tells her son that she isntired of waiting for the angels tonI thought I saw somentoday, but no, just crowsnon the bam roofn—a sentence which could bentaken as the epitaph not only ofnone unhappy woman (or even ofnShaw’s characters) but of a greatnmany people who cannot seemnto make any sense out of a confusednAmerica, Unlike O’Connor,nJanet Shaw does not seenangels, even when they might benreal. But it is not the artist’snfunction to offer philosophicalnsolutions or a guide for thenperplexed. What he can do—andnShaw does it admirably—is tonstay submerged long enough inncontemporary experience to seensuch visions as only drowningnmen are privileged to see. InnShaw’s case, a whole generationnof American lives seems to havenpassed before her eyes. Dn24inChronicles of CulturenGreat Saladinnp. H. Newby: Saladin in HisnTime; Faber and Faber; London.nThere are two views of Saladinnin the Christian world. In hisnlifetime he was regarded as thencourtly and virtuous Saracen, thennoble enemy of an equally noblenCouer de Lion. Dante treatednhim kindly in the Commedia andnKaiser Wilhekn II had his tomb innDamascus refurbished. Most ofnus became acquainted with thisnmodel of pious chivalry in Scott’snThe Talisman. But modernnhistoriatis have not been so kindnSaladin made a show of piety andnproselyted his enemies, but, theynpoint out, he drank wine andnMed to make the obligatory hajjnto Mecca. While the crusadersnclaimed to admire his chivalry,nSaladin rose to power by pushingnaside the family of his benefector,nNur-al-Din, and from time tontime he showed himself capablenof acts of violent retribution. In anbrief but forceful account, P. H.nNewby has given us a portraitnwhich does include the wartsnbut does not overlook the nobilitynof the entire countenance.nOne incident can serve to illustratenthe Saracen’s character andnthe difficulties he faced. At thencapture of Jaffa (1192), hisnKurdish compatriots began lootingnthe city—contrary to orders.nSaladin succeeded in inducingnhis Egyptian nmmluks to attacknthe Kurds and compel them tonrestore their loot. On the othernside King Richard, with onlyn3,000 men gainst 60,000 Moslems,nmanaged to attack andnretake the city the next day.nPredictably, Scott turns out to benmore accurate than the historians.nAs Aristotle observed, fiction isnmore philosophical than history,nand a major premise of most fictionnis the influence of characternupon event.nThe fete of empires can sometimesnturn on the career of ansingle man. During Saladin’snlifetime, the world of Islam wasnas divided as it is today. ThenCaliph in Bagdad was becomingnless of a figurehead, partially atnthe expense of the Turkish Sultans,nand Syrians, Kurds, Egyptians,nand Turks seemed unablento mount a united oppositionnagainst the Franks. Saladin wasninstrumental in reviving a Moslemncommitment to recover thenholy places—especiallyjerusalemn—^and expel the Europeans. ThenThird Crusade, largely becausenof the personal vigor and militaryngenius of England’s Richard, didnpose a serious threat to Saladin’snstrategy. Most of his emirs turnednagainst him and openly refusednto prosecute the war. ButnRichard sailed for England and antruce of three years and eightnmonths was declared. The KurdishnSultan died a year later.nIN FOCUSnA Tale of Modem TimesnWilliam Dear: The DungeonnMaster: The Disappearancenof James Dallas Egbert III;nHoughton Mifflin; Boston.nDallas Egbert was a genius. Atnthe age of 13 he entered MichigannState University to studyncomputer science. MSU assurednthe Egberts that the universitynwould take special care of thenbrilliant but remarkably immaturenstudent. Two years later hendisappeared. William Dear, thenTexas PI hired to find him, lost nontime in discovering how wellnMSU had protected their youngncharge. Little Dallas had spent hisncollege years cooking up angelndust in his dorm room and takingnan active part in the homosexualncommunity of East Lansing. Hisnmost strenuous intellectual pas­nnnleaving the empire he hadncreated to his sons and brothers,nwhose fijmily squabbles led to itsndemise. Even Jerusalem wasnretaken for a time but the days ofnOutremer were numbered. ThenThird Crusade had been the lastnreal chance for a Latin empire innthe EastnOne small complaint might benmade about Newby’s litde book.nIts strongest virtue is the Westemnscholar’s willingness to looknat things flrom the perspective ofnIslam. But this virtue might alsonbe taken as a sign of despair, as ifnthe author could only find hisnheroes in an alien world. There is,nafter all, more than one way ofngoing native. The crusaders, likenDante and Scott, were generousnenough to admire the virtues ofntheir enemy. They were not, however,nconverted by them. Dntime was playing Dungeons &nDragons—not just in his head,nbut in the eight-mile maze ofnsteam tunnels under the MSUncampus.nDear’s investigations werensometimes bizarre. In order tonget inside the boy’s head, henspent time learning to playnDungeons & Dragons. He evennlay down in flront of an oncomingntrain (another one of Dallas’snamusements). Unfortunately, thenengine had a cowcatcher attached,nand the PI had to run fornhis life. More productively. Dearnauthorized a homosexual investigatornto start pressuring thenlocal gay community just to seenwhat would pop (Philip Marlowenwould have been proud).nEventually Dear retrieved thenboy from an oil-field town inn