no way would exist to even estimatentheir size.nIn a discussion of coal, Teller presentsnhis own equally unique and unconventionalntheory of how some coal isnformed, but I’ll let you read that onenfor yourself.nTeller, of course, is best known fornhis invention (with Stan Ulam) of thenthermonuclear explosive and for hisnpromotion of the development of thenhydrogen bomb. It...

period, corporations retained their quasipublicncharacter. In exchange for certainnprivileges from the state—a legalnmonopoly, exemption from taxes, andneven the power of eminent domain—nthey would provide banks, harbors,ncanals, streets, and other public works.nThen, as now, the idea was to makenprivate capital serve the public good.nBut the idea didn’t work. State monopoliesnwere denounced as oppressive andnexploitative, and their...

warded. Ms. McLendon’s book tries tonmake a dignified portrait from a carica­nStagenIneptitude as ManifestonIsrael Horovitz: The Primary EnglishnClass; St. Nicholas TheatrenCompany; Directed by Gerald Gutierrez.nThe drama (play, comedy, allegory,nskit or trifle—whatever suits one) takesnplace in a classroom at night, accordingnto the program. We can infer from thenremarks of the characters that the adtionngoes on in...

ScreennNot-All-Too-Bad Kids and Inept BlasphemynBreaking Away; Directed by PeternYates; Written by Steve Tesich;n20th Century-Fox.nPeppermint Soda; a film by DianenKurys; a Gaumont/New YorkernFilms Release.nMonty Python’s Life of Brian; Directednby Terry Jones; Written bynGraham Chapman, John Cleese, TerrynGilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones,nMichael Palin; Handmade Films.nby Eric ShapearonW. C. Fields, that great visionary,nmay have had the right instinct:...

derision against it would certainly backfire.nLife of Brian, which artistically isnan assemblage of mostly dull, franticallynnoisy and underdeveloped skits, tries tonMusicnTruth Through the Art of RiffnJosef Skvorecky: The Bass Saxophone;nAlfred A. Knopf; New York.nby Douglas A. RamseynIt is possible, although I have seennno serious defense of the idea, that thenrecent defections to the United Statesnfrom...

an established component of the makeupnof many cultured Europeans, fromnAldous Huxley to Andr^ Malraux. Atnthe same time in the United States, itnwas generally considered, at best, quaint.nFor the narrator of “The Bass Saxophone,”nlife in his little Czech town isndominated on the one hand by the Nazinoccupation and on the other by his preoccupationnwith the fact...

of color and fascination with the linearndo not lend glamor to the hideous, butnat the same time do not strip uglinessnof dignity—we do not know, but it isnall there. The demi-chanteuses andndemi-mondaines, coarse and human,nrepelling and alluring, and their patrons,ntop-hatted and sallow, compose themselvesninto a panorama of an era whichnwe have agreed to call beautiful,...

of this Volpe encounter was “Order andnDisorder.” Philosophers, lawyers, economists,npohtologues and artists—theynseemed hke a defiance of the Red Brigadenin a city where practically siegenconditions prevail: six bombs went offnin various districts the night before thenopening.nTwo schools of thought emergednfrom the start: the positivistic one,” definingnorder as following from the naturenof reality, and a metaphysical one,nassuming...

Carre that was adorned with nothingnbut the accumulated and ennobling dirtnof decades. He established an artisticncredo: Purity, Poignancy and Traditionn— and ruthlessly went about cultivatingnand preserving it. Not too consciously,nI presume, he sensed that there was ancultural treasure in having septuagenariansnplay with syncopated and improvisationalnexcellence, faithful tontheir almost dogmatic canon of musicalnheritage. The generosity of...

and power aspects. The U.S.S.R. andnChina confront each other directly; nonhapless Eastern Europe is caught betweennthem. Also, China is still farnweaker than either the Soviet Union ornthe West, and is hardly capable of pursuingnopenly aggressive policies exceptnagainst a few of its immediate neighborsnin Southeast Asia. (It is curious, incidentally,nthat China’s aid, includingntroops, to the Burmese...

the Russians.”nThis seals off the case and perfectlyndenotes the moral and political smellnthat fills the Progressive’s quarters andnpages. And then some Americans wondernwhy, after such an abuse of freedomsnand privileges, overzealousnavengers of national decency launchntheir fateful raids. Like Senator Mc­nCarthy. From Wisconsin. DnApocalypse NownA frightened writer for the VillagenVoice, that seismograph of the radicalnleft in...

No, no and no. It’s that old farceur,nProf. Dr. John Kenneth Galbraith. Nownwe are, of course, delighted with hisnborn-again faith in the free market, butnwe are a little disturbed that he callsnoptimism about capitalism a bit of hisnwisdom. If his wisdom tells him thatnthings are O.K., we may have somenreason to worry.nLovable CultismnStrange how liberalism—once...

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Editor’s CommentnWhat’s normalcy?nNo one knows exactly. People with an innate propensitynfor moody incertitude would argue that, to begin with, itndoes not exist. Both scientists and sophist philosophers arenuneasy with it: it is somehow counter to the on-the-otherhandnrecipe for knowledge. On the other hand, however,nwithout the notion of normalcy, both science and casuistrynwould turn into sports...

his was an act of compliance with the reigning behavioralndogma, a collaboration with power, not a challenge of power,nas the homosexuals are simply an officially sanctioned socialnminority these days, thanks to the decree of liberal culturenand fashion. Thus, the young inverts gained entrance tonthe festivities in keeping with the new social mood, but,naccording to press...

opinions &. ViewsnThe Importance of Being a Terrorist en VoguenOtto J. Scott: The Secret Six: JohnnBrown and the Abolitionist Movement;nTimes Books/Quadrangle;nNew York.nby Gordon M. PradlnJLate Spring, planting right on schedule,nthe anticipation of a new cyclenof growth just beginning. After annendless day in the field, James andnMahala Doyle and their daughter andnthree sons had retired shortly...

of Negro troops during the Civil War)nwhose invalid wife from time to timenforced him into foreign travel, awaynfrom the battles that were heating upnat home; and Frank Sanborn, thenyoungest of the group, only 27 in 1859,nwho, at Emerson’s urgings, had openedna school in Concord after his graduationnfrom Harvard.nInterspersed with the activities ofnthe Secret Six, Scott...

he was fighting for a just cause! Thenactual facts as Scott has revealed themnare glossed over in these textbooks, andnthe problem of terrorism avoided. Thenreality of innocent murder is nevernpleasant, and so naturally enough thenhistorian would prefer to rationalizenit away, especially when a banner asnglorious as that accorded the abolitionistsnis conveniently at hand. Yet contrastnthis...

The Follies of SelfnChristopher Lasch: The Culture ofnNarcissism: American Life in an Agenof Diminishing Expectations; W. W.nNorton & Co.; New York.nby Charles A. MosernXTistorian Christopher Lasch, wellknownnfor some time as a radical commentatornon American life, in his latestnbook has come up with a statement ofnmovement away from certain formernpredilections. It is unlikely that ThenCulture of...

to the decomposition of society and culture.nBeset by a fear of death, the narcissistnseeks, above all, individual survival,nto which any other ideals must bensacrificed. “People no longer dream ofnovercoming difficulties,” Lasch writes,n”but merely of surviving them.” Tonthat it might be added that an excessivenpreoccupation with survival often resultsnin destruction. As Lasch himselfncomments in discussing the...

tural phenomena, and Marxism cropsnup often enough: for instance, Laschnasserts that one of the difficulties withncontemporary education is that it is regardednas a “commodity” to be consumed;nhe attempts to blame industrialismnin part for the breakdown of thenfamily; and he indulges in ritual denunciationsnof capitalist advertising. In thenfinal analysis, though, Lasch’s culturalncritique is usually separable from...

detests are very much like Americannlandlords or superintendents, worriednabove all about the safeguarding ofnproperty, such as Allende’s house. However,nin the spirit of The Adventuresnof Huckleberry Finn, a soldier finds anbox of old bullets in the house. Henthreatens to report the box unless Evenyields to his lust. This gives ProfessornRichards a chance to write a series...

Trotsky, Stalin or Castro: that is totalitarianism.nOnly a totalitarian regimencan “liquidate the bourgeoisie as a class”nand thus break down its resistance tonthe “expropriation.” What does thisnmean: to “liquidate the bourgeoisie asna class.”” It means not necessarily tonexterminate it down to the last person,nbut to decimate, deport, torture, scatter,nreduce its members to pariahs, in ordernto break...

zeal of Professor Richards would benastonishing even for Soviet literaturentoday. After the fall of AUende, ancertain lady “gasped at her bill for oilnand sugar.” This resembles Sovietnnovels about Nazi Germany, accordingnto which all Germans, except for andwindling handful of “moneybags,”nwere starving paupers. Soviet propagandancould not admit that an evilnregime may be quite prosperous. In annevil...

has held that the media can be heldnliable for defamation to public officialsnand public figures only if the defamationnwas published with actual malice, thatnis, with knowledge of its falsehood ornwith reckless disregard as to its truthnor falsity. Even a private person defamednby the media must show somenfault, as determined by state law, innorder to recover....

not follow.”n1 his reviewer is not a devotee ofnRichard Nixon. It makes him feel goodnthat this should not be regarded as anpro-Nixon book, despite the author’snFoolish ConsistencynAryeh Neier: Defending My Enemy:nAmericanNazis, the Skokie Case, andnthe Risks of Freedom; E. P. Dutton &nCo.; New York.nby Clarence CarsonnA. foolish consistency,” Emersonnsaid, “is the hobgoblin of little minds.”nThe...

most obvious one. The relevant portionnof the First Amendment reads this way:n”Congress shall make no law .. . abridgingn… the right of the people peaceablynto assemble, and to petition the governmentnfor a redress of grievances.” Justnwhat grievance the Nazis had whichnnecessitated their assembling in Skokie,nIllinois (on the streets) in order to getnthe government to redress...

responsible press is a worthy undertaking.nPeaceable assemblies are no propernconcern of anyone. Unfortunately, liberalsnwant freedom without responsibilitynto prevail in the arena of intellectualnactivity. The ACLU has been theirnhandmaiden in establishing the legalnconditions for this. Those who defendnfreedom without responsibility arenfinally responsible for the loss of freedom.nOnly little minds should be capablenof such a foolish inconsistency....

great American painter”)—is it possiblenthat he reads Playboy? (Is the PopenPoHsh?)n”Yes, of course I read Playboy. Insay ‘of course’ because I’ve beennreading it for so long. It, morenthan any other magazine I knownof is involved in the mainstreamnof our culture and values. It’s alsona way of keeping up with the peoplenwho are shaping and changingnthings...

there was, of course, pornography. Wenused to get it at the newsstand from thenold man with the black cigar who wouldnproduce it, literally, from “under-thecounter.”nSometimes it would circulatenthrough the boys’ locker room—usuallynpictures of grotesque Fellini-type whoresnwith missing teeth and billowing rollsnof flab. It was available, all right, butnone came by it furtively. We knew whatnwe...

Slaight’s Israeli (Israeli?) girlfriend,nand, of course, the victim are heavednat the reader. Great gobs of verbiagenabout the “power structure” of “WoonPoo” are generated, bemoaning then”system” that builds men like GeneralnHedges and his accomplices, who rangenfrom the sadistic Major Grimshaw tonthe omnipotent Pentagon bureaucratnWilliam Beatty. Like all cover-ups lately,nthis one extends to the heart of ourngovernment,...

ment” of the United States MilitarynAcademy. That, by hook or by crook,nis what the author intended.nX he one utterly amazing, or disturbing,nthing-about Truscott’s book hasnbeen the response to it by the weightynjournals. Even after he says he wrotenit for the money and the dust covernsays that “he writes fiction for a living,”nthe most prestigious literary...

to place herself. Sometimes she says hernname aloud to be sure she exists. Emptiednof meaning, each day lives her.nUnable to accept her childhood faith ornto believe in her past radical enthusiasms,nshe feels only the luxurious memorynof having had beliefs and regretnfor her lost “condition of simple faith.”nThe litanous recital of her radical credonhas no more...

insisting on forcing humanistic paradigmsnof conduct on the experience ofnlife. In other words, values can bendefined through politics. On the othernhand, the liberal mentality, fearful andncontemptuous of any dogma transcendingnthe individual’s capacity for invention,ndenies the fact of law in thenessential realm. Thus, values cannot bendefined through religion, the sacred—nthe transcendent. Errors with respect tonthe order...

worker has the highest standard ofnliving yet experienced in the globe.nAffluence and contentment seem tonhave paralyzed its survival sense.”nA general mood of “antiestablishmentarianism,”noceans of vague rhetoricnabout liberation and neo-Marxist ideologynsubmerged parts of the Americannacademic community. Few had the nervento ask, as one teacher at Columbia did,n”Liberation? Liberation from what?”nAn overemphasis on the end of the...

spiritual Awareness in the PrairiesnRuth Beebe Hill: Hanta Yo; Doubledayn& Co.; Garden City, New York.nby Maxine Steinmann11 anta Yo is a saga about a band ofnDakotah (Sioux) Indians, and an evocationnof their way of life in the late 18thnand early 19th centuries, before thenwhite man took possession of the Americannplains. As a work of fiction,...

choose to drink or not, to trade with thenwhite man or not, to unite with othernIndians against the white intruder ornnot. Nevertheless, it is unhkely thatnthese “choices” ultimately determinednwhat ensued. Time, as well as the whiteninvasion, conspired against the Indian’snway of life, and doomed it. Regret overnits disappearance understandably permeatesnthe pages of Hanta Yo. DnDrucker’s...

sisting on his conservative instincts andnunderwriting, in broad strokes, everynliberal sentiment, Mr. Wills can restnScreennLet’s Get RomancenManhattan; Directed by Woody Allen;nWritten by Woody Allen andnMarshall Brickman; United Artists.nSame Time, Next Year; Directed bynRobert Mulligan; Written by BernardnSlade; Universal.nby Eric ShapearonSuddenly, there’s an outcry amongnthe hacks who daily squeeze their mindsnfor a drop of opinion. After...

antihistamine.nAllen wishes to visualize the poetrynof city lore, but those who remembernRenoir, Rene Clair, Capra or DeSica,nquickly realize the charmlessness of hisnefforts. He has no knack for telling anstory visually; he needs words, a delugenof words—in fact, in all of Manhattan,nthere’s only one sequence that relies onnwordlessness.nThe New York libcultural lobby toutsnhim as a major...

mind you of Rembrandt, earnest andndreamlike; in Derain; in a Vlamincknlandscape (1909) with cypress treesnwhich move like flames into the sky.nAmong the propaganda posters (therenis one of Lenin standing on a globensweeping away monarchs, judges andnbusinessmen) rises Naum Gabo’s wonderousnColumn (1917), strong butntransparent (you can see through it, unlikenancient columns), fearless but soft,ntrue to the...

the most vivid sign of life in the wholenfilm. An emptiness invades everyonenexcept the youngest sister, who had beenna baby in 1939, and the man’s aunt andnuncle who have the sturdiness, goodwillnand skeptical good sense that can comenfrom having lived longer than a regime.nThe film treats time as if it had stoodnstill, but also denies...

even existence, of memory, of thenknowledge of creation, of everythingnexcept the little that it takes to survivenwithout knowing it. Because of the insatiablenniggardliness of this emptinessnin which the absence of the knowledgenof creation—the creation that was destroyednin Moscow after 1917—rendersnthe individuals in Wajda’s film apparentlynunable to say meaningful words.nNo longer able to rertiember themselves,nthe individuals...

JoumalistnnThe Villager Anno 1979nVillage Voice, a Manhattan publication,nis an advertising organ for mattressesnand stereos. In fact, in its pages,nthese two devices stand for much more:ntogether they form an ideological symbol—justnlike the fasces of ancientnRome, the eagle and arrows of Americanand the hammer and sickle of Communism.nUsing a mattress to the sound ofna stereo is to...

Polemics & ExchangesnLove of Vivaldinby Tom BethellnI don’t know how your Mr. CraignWyatt got the idea that my book onnGeorge Lewis “haughtily dismissesnMr. Bethell is the Washington, D.C.ncorrespondent for Harper’s magazine.nEditor’s Comment continued from page 3nimbued with this same persuasion produced what was perhapsnthe largest abuse of peacetime normalcy in history.nIt may be difficult to...

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Editor^s CommentnToday, the ugly beautiful people have become an ideologicalnoccurrence. When Governor Brown semi-officially travelsnabroad with sexual service personnel in lieu of a spouse, thisnis not nonconformism but an ideological statement. It isncalculated to attract favor from trendsetters whom he deemsnmore important than ordinary constituents. A very privatenaide to a governor is nothing new in...

journalistic renditions of history, contemporary affairs, behavioralnissues and artistic creativity time and again havenbecome multimillion dollar enterprises is a crucial question.nThe answer probably is: Because the greedy and unscrupulousnliberal publisher strikes an alliance with the liberal medianmanipulator, and together they set out to boost at any pricena conformist liberal critic, or a liberal intellectual bigot,nthereby...

opinions & ViewsnScenes de la Vie in ProvincenSusan Sontag: I etcetera; Farrar,nStraus & Giroux; New York. OnnPhotography; Farrar, Straus & Giroux;nNew York. Illness as Metaphor;nFarrar, Straus & Giroux; NewnYork.nby Leo F. RaditsanM iss Sontag lives off her talent thenway some of the rich live off their capital—becausenthey fear the pleasure, andnthe responsibility, of work and...

against distinctions in quality, Sontagntakes average photographs for photography.nShe does not want standards. Innfact she thinks she is fascinated bynphotography because it appears to denynall standards. This desire to deny standards,nto deny judgments of quality isnat the heart of much of her work. It isnas if she wants to deny what she hasnmissed, as if...

Other stories scrape at real themes:nthe suicide of a close friend, parenthood.nOthers parody them—for instance,nmarriage. But Sontag nevernlets anything happen: in the end shenalways has the better of herself. Thisnis because with all her braggadocio,nSontag is guarded, terribly guarded,nabout what really matters to her. Nondiscretion could match the hesitationnof her indiscretion.nAbove all, these stories have...