CommendablesnPrice’s EloquencenRay Price: With Nixon;nViking; New YoA, 1977.nOnly a few newspapers have mentionednthis volume of fascinating reminiscences—whichnare impassioned withoutnvehemence and committed withoutnbigotry. Price was Nixon’s speechwriter,nbut many prefer to call him the formernpresident’s conscience. In his book, henmakes no apologies, and whatevernpsycho-socio-drama took place in JohnnDean’s twisted ego he remains for Pricena squealer. When asked during an interviewnwhy he always gives the best lightnto the darker side. Price answered: “Indon’t pretend to be objective.” Yet, hisnsubjectivity makes an impression of anremarkably balanced introspection andnhis elaborated insights stand up to thentests of reason and logic. The New YorknTimes called his book “the most eloquentndefense of Nixon so far.” We call it thenmost commendable. DnSayle’s EffortnJohn Sayle: Union DuesnAtlantic Monthly Press; Boston, 1977.nHow does a white coal-miner’s familynreact amid the corrosive tomfoolery ofnthe ’60s? How do its members view andnconfront the clownishness of suburbannmiddle-class off-spring gone berserk.^nHow do they feel towards the rhetoric ofnthe era, in which they prominently figurenas “people” for whom “revolutions” arenconceived, preached and planned? Mr.nSayle tries valiantly to describe and fathomna phenomenon of which the sloganeeringnwas poisonous and the substancenabsurd and surrealistic. But periodicnfollies, like the ideological frenzy of then’60s, are rooted in shallow and fashionablensentiments; they thus can be correctlynassessed by history which is a selfevaluatingnelement. To approach themn161nChronicles of Culturensuccessfully in a novel, a writer needs ansocio-moral principle which can servenhim as a yardstick to evaluate humannaffairs embroiled in the ironies of existence.nMr. Sayle, however, seems to bencontented with a c ‘est la vie philosophynwhich weakens his analysis and narration.nNonetheless, all glory to Mr. Sayle fornhis aspiration to nail down the obviousnwhich for so long seemed so elusive fornso many. He has a gift for accomodatingneveryone’s private logic and predilections,nwhich enhances his readableness andncredibility, but subtracts from his intellectualnweight. nnWaugh’s ObnoxiousnWisdomnThe Diaries of Evelyn Waugh;nEdited by Michael Davie; Little, Brown & Co.;nBoston, 1977.nWhatever can be said of Evelyn Waughnas a human being (various possible andngrave inculpations come to mind), as anwriter he is still underrated in spite of allnthat has been said to his credit over thenlast 30 years. In our opinion, he is thisncentury’s foremost puncturer of thenstupidity and viciousness which havenbeen promoted in the name of freedom,nequality, progress and enlightenment.nThe fact that he disinfects the inflictednwounds with pure vitriol makes him innmany eyes a monster. Others, ourselvesnincluded, tend to forgive his acidity innreturn for the patches of beatitude thatnWaugh provides to those who feel harshnjustice should be meted out for mutilatingnreason, and scorning the civility of permanentnprinciples. Moreover, anyonenwho has read “Put Out More Flags” orn”A Handful of Dust” can’t help but havena warm spot in his heart for their author,nthe untidiness of his misanthropy notwithstanding.nAs the greatest executionernof the Radical Chic and Fashionable Cantnin our lifetime, Waugh deserves our lovenand gratitude, and his voluminous diariesncan only recruit for him new, even ifngrudging, admirers. DnnnGreeley’s CrusadenAndrew M. Greeley: Neighborhood;nSeabury; New York, 1977.nFather Greeley is known in Americanas a pugnacious and often perspicaciousncolumnist. To this must be added a solidnreputation as an agile sociologist and anbusy director of the Center for the Studynof American Pluralism at the NationalnOpinion Research Center in Chicago.nAside from other concerns—amongnthem the current humiliation of moralnphilosophy, contemporary decay and assortednsocial blights—Father Greeley isna knight-warrior for urban neighborhoods.nHe sees in them a benefit to all, anbright and humane construct for communitynliving that remains valid andnviable. We buy his explication of what isnhappening to them and why it’s a calamity.nWe are even more in favor of hisnexegesis of why all those bad thingsnshould not be permitted to happen tonthem and why protecting them would bengood for our health and future. To reenforcenhis effort we would like to quotena remark of his fellow Chicagoan, SaulnBellow, who, in his Jefferson Lecture,ntells about an old Chicago Pole, who withnboth melancholy and sagacity complainednabout the forces of modern life unleashednon him by contemporaneity: “Look whatnthey did to us. They ruined our bestnslums …” nnLongrigg’snWistful SighnRoger Longrigg: The English Squirenand His Sport;nSt, Martins Press; New York, 1977.nA cornucopia of information about thentraditional rapport between Englishnessnand sports. In our time, it is already annoverused banality to relate the sense ofnfairness, bred by a properly developednsporting spirit, to the general characteristicsnof social and political life. We alln