on the part of a reasonable reader. Men arenreduced by decree to freakishness ornmoronicality, to human junk and refuse.nThis is a vitiated and crippled vision of life ;nit demonstrates the objective paltriness ofnthe neo-feminine novel as a literary genre.nThe obsequious liberal critics, however,navoid reminding us these days what a richnlore of femininity has been created...

The Liberation of a Free Womann—Francine du Plessix Gray:nLovers and TyrantsnNear the end of this novel, the heroine, annup-and-coming writer named Stephanie,nannounces to her lover and tyrant of thenmoment, “We must confront vague ideasnwithdear images.” This is a tall order; shenhas managed here to hit upon one of thenessential tasks of great literature, onenwhich the...

One night in the moonlit desert ofnArizona, Stephanie looks into emptiness:n”Nothing. The key word is ‘nothing’ . . .nNothing . . . Disintegration of matter.nAnarchy. Peace.” Lovers and Tyrantsnshould have ended here. The inner logic ofnStephanie’s career, her liberation, leads tondisintegration. This is too grimly honest fornGray, however; better to blink the truthnthan defect from...

The Piety of an Empty Heartn—Joan Didion:nA Book of Common PrayernFew executives at Gulf & Western —nwhose subsidiary published the book — arenapt to be caught by Joan Didion’s novel, butntheir daughters and wives are likely to benentranced. For that reason, if for no other, itnmight pay businessmen to dip into this talenof life gone...

the women, but Ms. Didion is unusual innbeing remarkably hard on everyone. Nongroup — whether Jewish, Islamic, Latin ornAmerican—is portrayed in other thannwithering sarcasms. In the aggregate thisnastonishes, for the author is considered ansuccessful woman which should have entitlednher to a bit of magnanimity. Apparently,nthe latter does not sell these daysnat Brentano’s which somehow coincidesnwith...

Fish Story-nLois Gould: A Sea-ChangenLois Gould’s latest novel, A Sea-Change,nis pretentious, silly, and mostly plain dull.nThe story concerns two women, two youngngirls, and two men. Much of the action takesnplace during a hurricane, and in that crisisnone of the women emerges as a resourcefulnleader, responsible for saving the lives ofnother characters. The novel in fact...

Jessie is the center of interest in this fishnstory. She is the victim : victim of countlessnmale fashion photographers whose camerasnwere the instruments of their domination,nvictim of Roy and their “old” marriage,nand victim, too, in the opening sequence ofnthe novel of a Negro robber who tied her upnwith a pair of pantyhose and sexuallynassaulted her...

An Epitome of Junk-nGael Greene:nBlue Skies, No CandynWhen confronted with a book like this, thenimpulse is to dismiss it as meretriciousntrash, written to make a killing in thenliterary marketplace, a hit and run novel. Innfact, it is doubtful whether Gael Greenenwould seriously contest this accusation. At anparty attended by New York’s “BeautifulnPeople,” a woman fashion...

cares. Her obligation to her genitals is sonoverwhelmingly serious an undertakingnthat it becomes sadly grotesque, like thenromps of a cheap, tired clown. And becausenKate, the non-person, generates no feelings,nher erotic entanglements create no excitement:nno empathy, no curiosity, no lust.nWe have already relegated the myth ofnDon Juan to the psychiatrist’s couch; he isnconsidered nowadays a symbol...

About thenChronicles of CultttrenThe JRockford College Institute presents annew publication entitled Chronicles ofnCulture. It will feature reviews of booksncredited with an impact on the currentncultural scene, and provide viewpoints thatnare usually eliminated from the literarynmarketplace, or silenced by the LiberalnEstablishment that runs the media.nWe, at the Rockford College Institute,nbelieve that culture is, more than ever,...

About thenRockford CollegenInstitutenThe Rockford College Institute is founded on the premise that both America andnWestern civilization are in urgent need of the revival of certain ideas whichnhave become decomposed, bemuddled and trampled by the culture of our time.nIt attempts to restore reason, order and tradition to their natural role in humannaffairs. It believes that a...

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