universal, examines archetypalntendencies and patterns in generationsnof storytelling, and re­nWASTE OF MONEYnAwfiilly Unlike AustennJoan Juliet Buck: The OnlynPlace to Be; Random House; NewnYork.nWhen great writers die, somenarrangement ought to be madenpermitting them to take theirnnames with them. Left behind,nthey are often shamelesslynabused by publishers eager tonpromote second-rate authorsnwith incredibly unwarrantedncomparisons whose falsity cannnever be justly denounced bynthe maligned departed. In thencase of The Only Place to Be, thengenius traduced is Jane Austen,nimputed by the dustcover tonhave been “reincarnated” in thenperson of Joan Juliet Buck.nAusten will come back as a cownfirst. Imagine Austen, whosennovels brilliantly explore thennuances of conversations, manners,nand values of culturednBritish gentility, creating a workndepicting churlish movie stars,njournalists, and gangsters whosenmouths are filled with profanity,nwhose hearts ache alternatelynwith petty vanity, lust, and ennuinand whose nights (and days)nare spent in perverse sex.nMs. Buck does command anmodicum of writing skill, even anmeasure of wit and perceptiveness,nbut what she utterly lacks isnprecisely that which makesnAusten’s art immortal: meaningfulnethical vision. WhereasnAusten measures the proud stupiditynof a Collins or the calculatingnunscrupulousness of anWickham against a finely gradatednstandard of normalcy andn38inChronicles of Culturenestablishes the forgotten truthnthat goodness and justice arentimeless. (JM) Dnmorality. Buck’s portrayal of thenemptiness of the lives led by allnof her main characters seemsnanimated by little more thannskeptical cynicism. Her protag­nonist concludes at age seven thatneating, like all other human activities,nis merely a pointless exercisenin redundancy, and thencourse of life and thought thatnMs. Buck allows her never seriouslynchallenges that pessimisticnview. Those who hold radicallyndifferent outlooks, those withnreligious convictions or bourgeoisnmorals, appear only as caricatures.nWere Austen alive today,none suspects that she wouldntell Ms. Buck what one minorncharacter tells her protagonist:n”You know, you’re intelligent,nbut I don’t think it will helpnyou.”(BC) DnLIBERAL CULTUREnWould You Buy an ObjectivenPoll from That Man?nStrict objectivity is to the pollstersnwhat virginity was to thenknight-errant: to both of themnthey are their pride and their armor.nThe latter couldn’t fightnfor an ideal without the purity ofnsay, heart, the former withoutnthe same quality of his data.nThus, editorializing is to thenpollster the same as carnal temptationnwas to Sir Lancelot. Yet,nspeaking at the Church Centernin New York City to a peculiarncongregation dedicated tonboosting a nuclear freeze, thisnwas what Mr. Louis Harris, thencrusading pollster, had to say:nSomething dramatic andnhighly important has happenednto public opinion innAmerica just over the pastnyear. An urgent, dedicatednhunger for peace in a nuclearnera has literally overtakennour people. The deep desirenfor peace has always beennthere. The urgency is occasionednby the dread realizationnthat humanity couldnwell be wiped out by annuclear war, not just at somenvague point in the future,nbut at any time. Andnanytime could be now.nIf that’s not editorializing, andnwith a distinctly liberal/left verbiagento boot, we do not knownwhat is. Village Voice, the organnof neo-Bolshevism, reportednthat Mr. Harris had “enthusiasticnlisteners.” Who were they? Anspecific coalition of disarmamentngroups. What groups?nWhy, these were people whonrun, or endow with money, outfitsnlike the Institute for PolicynStudies, The National LawyersnGuild, the Stern Fund, thenRubin Foundation, Counter Spynnewsletter, Stewart Mott’s Fundnfor Peace, assorted communistnfront groups, the Brothers BerrigannPloughshares Fund,nnnClergy and Laity Concerned,nWomen’s International Leaguenfor Peace and Freedom—they allnwere guests of the RockefellernFamily Fund, which was thenmain sponsor of the meeting.nThe chief objective of that assemblynwas to articulate warningsnabout nuclear-arms controlnand to promote peace issues.nThat those warnings soundednjust like TASS’s warnings on thensame subject apparently botherednneither the distinguishednfinanciers nor Mr. Harris.nWould you buy an objective (?)npoll on those issues from thatngentleman?nStalking the Big OnFor years, some women havenbeen trying to find a sure-firenapproach for achieving what isneuphemistically termed “makingnthe earth move,” Variousnapproaches, from the Sadean tonthe more common garden variety,nhave been and are being attempted.nAn enterprising groupnis searching for such womennthrough the classified sectionnof (where else?) Village Voice.nThe ad claims that through meren”participation in paper & pencilnUniversity research [jzc],” thenend of the rainbow can benreached. The paper and pencOsnconcern us. The circumstancenthat W, the organ of muckrakingnsensualists, is the messengernof this happy news makes the announcementnas valuable as thensame paper’s support for NewnYork politicians. Dn