O’Reilly’snRavingsnomits is a common-sense awarenessnof the variety of humanness.nBy entertaining the notion thatnto be equal women must aspirento jobs, like construction work,nsimply because they previouslynhave been all-male domains, shenJane O’Reilly: The Girl I Left is neglecting the obvious issuenBehind: The Housewife’sMo­ of whether or not a given womannment of Truth and Other is suited to the particular job innFeminist Ravings; M-dLcMiWun; question. Instead, she throwsnNew York.naround terms like “status,”nby Sharon M. Mullisn”rights,” “privileges.” In keepingnwith the feminist party line,nher comments need no logic orndocumentation, just agitpropnslogans. Men and women as individualsnare not considered.n”Nothing works” in this countrynbecause it is controlled by mennwho are committed to “upwardnfailure.” Marriage, as she describesnit, is simply the “narrowing”nof expectations on the woman’snpart in return for her beingntaken care of; it depends on then”oppression and exploitation” ofnwomen.nIt is, finally, a childish evasionnof responsibility which characterizesnthe book. Ms. O’ReillynIn 1938 Dorothy Sayers, anwoman who never entertainednthe notion that being a womannlimited her options or made herna member of an oppressed class,nwrote a brilliant and succinctnbook entitled Are Women Human?nShe answered with thensame logic, clarity and commonnsense which characterize hernprose style: of course womennare human, and as such they desirenwhat any human being desires—namelynan interesting occupationnwhich utilizes one’sntalents to the fullest, with reasonablenfreedom for pleasurenand a sufficient emotional outlet.nUnfortunately, in the years sincenthen much of her common sensenhas been abandoned and subsequentlynreplaced by women whonsee themselves not as individualsnbut as “sisters,” “feminists,” ann”oppressed” minority. One ofnthe latest exercises in this mindsetnis Jane O’Reilly’s The Girl InLeft Behind.nMs. O’Reilly establishes thatnher consciousness has beenn”raised” as an individual. Shenthus worries about deferring tonher friends’ husbands, wonderingnwhat they want or what theynthink because she was not raisednto be “equal” to men. This wholennotion of equality, a constant refrain,nis never logically explorednor explained. What her viewnDr. Mullis teaches at ClaytonnJunior College in Morrow,nGeorgia.nChronicles of CulturenJournalist as DarlingnCalvin Trillin: Floater;nTicknor & Fields; New Haven andnNew York.nOne of the subtle but enduringnlegacies of Watergate is the redefinednrole of the journalist innsociety. No longer is the newspaperman,nmagazine writer ornbroadcast journalist a Clark Kentntype. Thanks to Woodward andnBernstein—and their celluloidnversions—the journalist is somethingnof a Superman. He (or she)nhas attained mythic proportions;nsince Watergate journalists havenbeen elevated to the status ofnknights defending the nationnagainst the maleficent wizards innthe White House. This self-servingnpropaganda by professionalnpropagandists has resulted inndid not leave the girl behind butncontinues to reflect some of thenless attractive aspects of girlishnessnin her text. The same lacknof goals and direction whichncharacterized a younger JanenO’Reilly who went off to Radcliffen”bewildered” with “vaguennotions,” who made her debutnand married just because thesenwere expected, characterize thenolder Jane O’Reilly who wandersnincoherently from topic to topic.nIn like manner, just as a childnwants others to accept his as thenonly way, so Ms. O’Reilly seesnher view of life as the only acceptablenone for all women. However,nshe doesn’t seem to enjoynthe work she is so eager to pushndown the throats of othernwomen. She resents having tonwork, often “feels sorry” for herself,nand at times longs for a richnman to sweep her off her feet andntake care of her, for she admitsnthat” a man is a better companionnthan a typewriter.” We hope thenpenance imposed by Steinem,nFriedan, et alii for her sacrilegenis not too harsh. Dngiving journalists the standingnof modern-day heroes, like movienor television stars. People nowadaysnwant to find out thingsnabout journalists instead of findingoutnthings/row journalists—ncertainly an unhealthy situation.nThe result of all this is that thennews presenters are news mak­nnnIn the Mailners. Magazine readers think nothingnof seeing the face of a journalistnon the cover of People;nthe journalists who show up onntalk shows are often there fornentertainment value, not becausenthey can add anything ofnsubstance to the audience’snknowledge of the world. WhennDan Rather stiffed a cabbie innChicago last fall, the newspapersnin Detroit—and undoubtedlynelsewhere—gave it day-by-dayncoverage. The media can be picturedn(by those who don’t adorenit) as a snake attempting to swallownitself. In the bad old days,nHearst and Pulitzer manufacturednnews; today, their counterpartsnare news.nCalvin Trillin’s contributionnto the adulation of the modernnAmerican journalist is Floater.nIt is a novel in the genre whichnWatergate has multiplied: thenroman a clef. It is basically a weeknin the life of a writer for a weeklynnews magazine. “Is it Time ornNewsweek?” the reader asks,nwhile correlating descriptionsnof the fictional magazine withnthe real thing. Helping cause thisnreaction is Trillin’s “Claimer”nin the front of the book, whichnsays that one of the characters isnbased on John Gregory Dunnenbut that the others are fictional.nDunne.’ Thereby, Mr. Trillinnmarks his ideological credo: henassumes America knows who anDunne is.nThe title is apt: the novel is asnweightless as the world it renders.n(CSV) DnJohn Selman, Gunfighter by Leon Claire Metz; Universitynof Oklahoma Press; Norman, Oklahoma. A biographical accountnof a shadowy figure of old Texas and New Mexico duringnthe period following the Civil War.nPhilosophical Style edited by Berel Lang; Nelson-Hall;nChicago. An anthology about the reading and writing of philosophy.n