choices become constrained. The tricknis to keep things swirUng from the outsidenso the inner sources of meaningnneed never be faced—the ultimate commercialnheaven. Not all outer forms, ofncourse, are to be condemned; rather, itnis our powerless relationship with themnthat needs examining, a relationshipnthat binds us helplessly in its grip evennwhen we wish to alter our course ofnevents.nX he vast panorama of the seeminglyninsignificant martini is at last given itsnfull due in a semiotic study by LowellnEdmunds, sometime professor of classicsnat Boston College. In The SilvernS«//ei: Professor Edmunds dissects, withnscholarly wit that knows no bounds, thenrange of symbolic meanings—intended,nunintended and otherwise—that arenbrought into play whenever the preeminentnAmerican cocktail appears innour midst:nThe form of the martini, consists,nthen, of coldness, dryness, clarity andnpurity. It is a simple, strict, one mightnsay puritanical, drink. Its pleasure,nwhich is not voluptuous but astringent,ncan only be expressed by oxymoron—sensuousncoldness, opulentndryness, mysterious clarity, alluringnpurity.nIn short, the urbane and refined martininis able to make such penetrating statenments about us because it is “disruptivenof civilized values,” indeed, suggestingnsuch values are only a veneer.nWe need to see our behavior turnednback on itself—scrutinize it in contextn—because it usually marks a humblingnambiguity in which all appearances arennot necessarily so benign or innocent.nSemiotic study involves the teasing outnof the landscape of opposites that thensymbol system is hiding. For instance,nwith all the status that supposedly accruesnto the martini, the well-heelednalcoholic can mask the true nature ofnhis yearnings by going completely drynand covering up his olives with straightngin. And so we initially label the behav­nior sophisticated rather than calling thenman a drunk.nWhen such behavior is merely routine,nchoice is thrown out of control,nbut we realize this only if we occasionallynapply a literary, critical stance towardnlife. Such a stance on the part ofnProfessor Edmunds reveals a case ofnmixed motives in our cultural undertakings—andangerous condition because ofnwhat gets left unstated.nThe ultimate ambiguity of the Martini,non which all others rest, is itsndangerous purity, its simultaneousnclarity and blackness, its civilized barbarismnand the barbaric civility.nThe bonding of the martini drinker tonhis caste (it is an upper not lower, malennot female, urban not rural, Wasp notnethnic, American not European, drink)nsuggests a curious withholding of selfnIn the Mailn— in a sense the game is over, the winnersnpredetermined. Who would havenguessed what a tipped glass might exposenabout the crosscurrents of Americannlife.”nWhen we deny our natural connections,nforget the hold our cultural pastnhas on our future, or ignore the manifestncontent of our symbolic behaviornwe risk eliminating the art characteristicsnof our existence. Perhaps our currentnobsession with avoiding real art isnbound up with our civilization’s missionnto avoid pain at all cost. It is thenpain of choice that allows for self-recognition.nWe find out (define) who we arenthrough these choices; thus our flightnaway from such self-energy-expandingnactivity signals the latest nirvana—thenanesthesia of outer technique. To getnback to a chosen self we must be willingnto invest new inner forms of suffering.nDnLooking Back by Edwin J. Feulner, Jr.; The Heritage Foundation; Washington,nD.C. A collection of columns written prior to January 1981 addressing such problemsnas government bureaucracy, inflation, radical environmentalism and other areas of liberalnpolicy failure.nSociety, State, & Schools: A Case for Structural and Confessional Pluralism bynGordon Spykman et al.; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.; Grand Rapids, Michigan.nThe results of a study by scholars in various areas of education, and a pragmaticnassessment of possible solutions to the loss of pluralism in American public education.nThe Cape Route: Imperiled Western Lifeline by Robert J. Hanks/USN (Ret.);nInstitute for Foreign Policy Analysis; Cambridge, Massachusetts. An analysis ofnthe maritime anatomy of the Cape of Good Hope and the possible dangers it could presentnto international shipping.nA Bonhoeffer Legacy: Essays in Understanding edited by A. J. Klassen; Wm. B.nEerdmans Publishing Co.; Grand Rapids, Michigan. A collection of essays on DietrichnBonhoeffer s thoughts on such subjects as theological method, history, religion andnsecularization and ethics by several religious scholars.nDoes Big Business Rule America? edited by Robert Hessen; Ethics and PublicnPolicy Center; Washington, D.C. Seven critical essays on Charles Lindblom’s Politicsnand Markets by James Q. Wilson, David Stockman and others.n”The Transition to a New Administration” by Edwin Meese III; The HoovernInstitution; Stanford, California. Meese’s analysis of the transition period, from anspeech given in January 1981.nEconomic Freedom in the Eighties: For the Individual, the Nation, the Worldnedited by Paul C. Goelz; St. Mary’s University Press; San Antonio, Texas. A volumencontaining the proceedings of the Second National Symposium on the Philosophynof Free Enterprise conducted by St. Mary’s University.nnnWovember/December 1981nXnXn