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 criticsnoutdo each other in adoring it as a seriousnwork—until we notice the paraphrasenof the review by the New YorknPost: “Explosive sexuality,” which isnthe level of tripe served up by thenNational Enquirer or True Detective.nIt’s not that difficult to see through.nHopelessness andnUnanswered QuestionsnDiane Johnson: Lying Low; AlfrednA. Knopf; Nevir York.nby Joseph SchwartznOr ne of the better introductions tonthis book is provided by Diane Johnsonnherself in a recent issue of the New YorknReview of Books. The sixties was antime when:n”… young people stoned on ideologies,nanti-intellectual and sanctimonious,n[were] strangely protectednby their limited vocabularies of receivednphrases from any ability tonquestion their own righteousness.” “nA study of the meaning and consequencesnof that cultural ambience isnwhat this astute novel, set in thenpresent, is about.nThe uncluttered structure of thennarrative is easily outlined. During fournDr. Schwartz, of Marquette Universitynin Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the editorn0/Renascence, a literary journalnzznChronicles of CulturenThe “explosive sexuality” of Truscott’snbook goes over like a tear gas grenade,nnoxious and persistent, but without thensensate sting.nBut why the deadly seriousness ofnthese reviews of an amateurish, nonseriousnbook.” Because, no doubt, thenjournals that heaped plaudits upon itnsense the familiar odor of muckraking.nThey don’t praise Truscott’s eloquencenor his skill at fashioning a sentence, butnhis “thriller,” and his “compelling exploration”—inneffect, his quite correctnperception of what is acceptable tonthem. If Truscott had written to glamorizenWest Point, his book would havenbeen sniffed at as “hawkish”—assumingnhe would have found a publisher. Dnhot August days the apparently homelynlives of three women in Orris, California,na small college town, are radicallynchanged. Ouida, an illegal alien fromnBrazil “lying low” from immigrationnofficials, is disillusioned. Theodora, thenelderly ex-dancer, is dead. The protagonist,nMarybeth Howe, is left to contemplatenthe wreckage of her life. Allnthree are brilliantly sketched.nOuida goes to class, gives a. fiesta, andntries to decide if she should marry tonmake her status in the United Statesnlegal. Theodora superintends the boardingnhouse in which they all live, goesnto humanitarian community meetings,nand plans a ballet therapy program fornprisoners. Marybeth, living under annassumed name, goes to work, tries tonavoid the past, and undergoes the agonynof questioning her radical righteouness.nOut of such things is violence made.nIt is best to begin with Ouida. First,nshe brings the perspective of an outsidernto the American scene. Her observationnthat Americans do not know how to bennnhappy since it is in their nature tonquarrel is a crucial insight into thenconfusions of both Marybeth and Theodora.nSecond, Ouida’s sentimental religiousnperspective serves an essentialnironic function. She hopes for a spiritualnsolution to the problems which modernnman has lost the ability to solve; thencultish pamphlets she studies promisenthe dawn of a new age. America’s problemnis lack of faith; people have lostnthe habit of belief. The Good News,nbrought to her by door-to-door Gospelers,nis that the answer to the problemnof evil is Faith. That she is finallyndisillusioned is the author’s commentnon the failure of her primitive naivete—nperhaps on the failure of Faith itself.nYet, her faith serves as a counterpointnto the complete loss of faith in bothnMarybeth and Theodora. The reader isnencouraged to see this constructivenfunction of Ouida as paramountnthroughout most of the novel. Hence,nher final appearance as a disillusionednperson comes as an ironic surprise. Thenvenerable literary convention of thentriumph of the simple heart is harshlyntested. Ouida, like the others, loses hernability to cope with circumstances. Thenpromise of a new age is far away; experiencenin her lovingly adopted countrynleaves her with only a series of unanswerednquestions. Faith is a perishablenblossom; she loses heart. “What do Incare about the next life?”nJVLarybeth, “lying low” from thenpolice, is the novel’s center of consciousness.nA sixties student activistninvolved in an Ohio bombing whichnunintentionally caused a death, she hasnbeen underground for six years.n”I did think someone had to try andnchange the world, that people had tontry! It was a natural mistake. A lotnof people thought that way. ThenCentral to the novel is her questioningnof her own righteousness. Deceivednby her commitment to violent solutions,nshe has no longer any category in whichn