He was not immune, therefore,nfrom the temptations of thengenre—which now can safely bentermed ironic realism—in whichnall the heavyweights of fictionnthen indulged, from Balzac tonChekhov. So he came up with annepistolary novel, Marienbad,nwhich chronicles the vicissitudesnof innocently duplicitous peoplengiven to the underdevelopednsnobberies and superficiallynmotivated intrigues so characteristicnof the bourgeois culture atnthat time. Of course, Flaubertnand Hardy knew more about thenpedestrian torments of well-todonwomen of that time, andnAleichem was far too anecdotalnto be considered a serious probernof souls, yet he held his own, andnhis sense of humor makes himnworth reading even now. Henamusingly explored the Yiddishndialectical syndrome that blendsncourtesy and curse with unmatchednprecision, and he knewnhow to uphold and to mock conventionalitynor custom in thensame sentence. Aleichem wasnsomehow in the same vein asnother warmhearted realists—nDickens and Twain come tonmind—but he lacked his morenfamous colleagues’ boldness inncaricature, and their sense ofnmore universal ironies. Ofncourse, he was unsurpassed innhis tales of East European shtetlnVol. 6, No. 7 November 1982nBrainwashing in Americanfolklore (Tevye the Dairyman)nin which grass-roots religiousnessnturns into precious chains ofnsmall-time wisdom and mixesncharmingly with literariness. InnMarienbad, he attempted tonSleaze to Please?nHarold Robbins: Spellbinder;nSimon & Schuster; New York.nHarold Robbins, as is wellnknown, is one of the richestnwriters in the world. His megabucksncome from works thatnhave the literary sense and stylenthat can be expected of a writernwho tries to break into the fieldnvia a certified course in taxidermy.nRobbins really can’t benblamed for what he is doing.nAfter all, he is simply givingnreaders what they want, andnthey, in turn, are giving himnwhat he wants: money. Fair isnfair. However, how fair arenthings? Does Simon & Schuster,na division of Gulf & WesternnCorporation, publish Robbinsnbecause of his value as a writer ornbecause of the quantity of booksnLevine; Commenr; Fleming and Lynch on Novak {The Spirit of DemocraticnCapitalism); Tanner on Donoghue, Weeks and Fraser (Ferocious Alphabets, Writersnand Friends, A Mingled Yam); Bower on Perry and Hayman (Jack London, Kafka);nMoser on Elliott (Pawns of Yalta); Landess on Eliade and White (Autobiography.nPoems and Sketches ofE.B. White); Steensma on Plath and Sexton (The CollectednPoems, The Journals, The Complete Poems); Michaelsen on Sabato (The Rise ofnPolitical Consultants); Tunney on Godwin and Thayer (A Mother and TwonDaughters, Three Women at the Water’s Edge); Goodell on Bauer, Loehr andnPowelson (Equality, the Third V/orld and Economic Delusion. The Economics ofnDevelopment and Distribution); Settanni on Hennesey (American Catholics); Reednon Edwards and Adler (Ronald Reagan; A Political Biography, The Reagan Wit);nCommendabies: In Focus; Waste of Money; Screen; Music; Polemics & Exchanges;nCorrespondence; The American Proscenium; Journalism; Social Register; In MynSolitude; Liberal Culture.n40inChronicles of CultarenWASTE OF MONEYncreate a metaphorical corso outnof the Nalevki section of thenWarsaw Jewish quarter aroundnthe turn of the century—a lessnrewarding task than sentimentalizingfolksagacity.nDnthat he sells; does the conglomerate’snprofit center publishnwriters (or one of its other divisions.nParamount, producenfilms) based on merit? Little ratiocinationnis required for comingnup with answers.nSpellbinder is a departure fornRobbins inasmuch as sex doesnnot play as large a role as it doesnin most of his other novels. ThenBetsy, for example, is, on its surface,nabout the auto industry,nbut most of the horsepower is expendednin scenes of rutting. HasnRobbins mellowed—or is he justntrying to tap that market thatnbuys the more chaste romances?nThere is something besides sexnthat ties Robbins’s books together:nhe takes a formulaic approachnto the production ofnthem. In this respect, he is similarnto Arthur Hailey. Hailey,nof course, selects a subject suchnas banking or hotel management,nthen weaves his narrationnaround an explanation of hownhis subject works. Robbins, too,npicks a familiar subject (bothnhit the same one with The Betsynand Wheels, though the latternreally is about the business),nthen goes on to show how corruptnthe people involved with itnare. It must be a quirk in manynmillions of people that makesnthem want to read about what anbunch of creeps their fellownhumans—ones that would seemnto be good people—are, as seennthrough Robbins’s glass.nnnIn Spellbinder Robbins castsnhis eye on what he terms “thenconservative Christian majority.”nTo add verisimilitude to hisnwork he utilizes the names ofnreal people—Oral Roberts, BillynGraham—and things like ThenMoral Majority Report againstnwhich to set up his props (e.g..nThe Major Minority Report).nSuffice it to say that the so-callednfundamentalist church Robbinsncreates is a monster; thenpreacher, for example, smokesnand sniffs drugs before, during,nand after cavorting between thensheets with some of his “saved.”nThe church, of course, is simplyna mechanism through whichnmonies are generated for an old,nnasty Texas tycoon who saysnthings like, “Now it’s time fornright-thinkin’ Christian Americansnto take their own countrynback into their own hands.” He,nnaturally, is the villain of thenpiece; the freewheeling preachernis the sainted hero.nIt might seem that Robbins isnentering the arena on the side ofnpeople like Norman Lear. PerhapsnRobbins is a liberal humanistnwho would like to see everynchurch in America turned intona secular bus stop. There’s anothernpossibility, however: bothnSimon & Schuster and Gulf &nWestern agree with the accuracynand depth of Mr. Robbins’snsociological analysis. It’s probablynnot pecunia but their contributionsnto the “social issues”ndebate that motivates them.n(GV) Dn