novel means of birth control. It doesn’tnalways work, and the women learn thatnthe resultant children, raised communallynin this “community of philosophers,”ninterfere with their “self-development.”nChildren, i.e., the future, are discoverednto be regrettably “anti-progressive.”nAlthough undeniably “central to thencommunity . . . morally and philosophically,nthey had no right to exist.”nAcirema’s civilization, such as it is,ngradually crumbles under the weight ofnthis contradiction as the neglected children,nthe only ones who reproduce,ntake over.nNature teaches its most painstaking,nand pain-giving, lesson to Ruth Puttermesser,na liberal Jewish lawyer who appearsnin both a short story and a novella.nWe meet her at age 34, leaving WallnStreet to work in city government andn”looking to solve something, she did notnknow what.” She has a sensible, privatenvision of Paradise—a tree to sit undernand an inexhaustible supply of booksnand chocolate. In the novella, 12 years innthe city bureaucracy have induced her tonenvision a more grandiose Paradise. Demoted,nthen fired during a politicalnshake-up, she dreams of making a golemn(a dream of Pygmalion), knowing thatnlearned Jews have occasionally resorted tongolem-making in times of danger. Herngolem, a female, wants to be called Xanthippe,non the grounds that Socrates’nwife criticized even Socrates, the archcriticnwho built a Paradise in words, reformingnthe cormpt Athens of actuality.nPuttermesser’s golem rids the city of corruptnpoliticians by installing her maker asnmayor, who then fulfills the liberal reformer’sndream, replacing the pols andnincompetents with idealists. Thendreamers finally have complete power,nand New York becomes “a rational daylightnplace,” orderly and pleasant.nPlato’s Republic as conceived by JohnnGardner. But nature, driven out of thengolem, stubbornly returns. The golemnlusts after Puttermesser’s former lover;neros “enter[s] Gracie Mansion.” Thengolem tells Puttermesser, “I want a life ofnmy own. My blood is hot.” What thengolem did, the golem undoes, and in thenend Puttermesser understands that “Toonmuch Paradise is greed. Eden disintegratesnfrom too much Eden. Eden sinksnfrom a surfeit of itself.” She has learnednwhat Ozick’s photographer learns in thenbook’s most intriguing story, “Shots.” Anphotographer can save tmth by arrestingnits attacker, time. But even in possessingntruth, she cannot become tmth. Nor cannshe make it. She remains outside, takingnpictures. That goes for writers, dreamers,nand politicians, as well.nOzick has said that she wants somedayn”to drill through the ‘post-modem’ andncome out on the other side, alive andnHollywood RevisitednLouise Brooks: Lulu in Hollywood;nAlfred A. Knopf; New York.nJoseph McBride: Hawks on Hawks;nUniversity of California Press; Berkeley.nby Mary Ellen FoxnJl ext to the American West, has anynregion exerted a greater pull on our collectivenimagination than Hollywood?nBoth have transcended the notion ofnmere locale and become part of the nationalnmythology, complete with godsnand demons, heroes and scoundrels.nLouise Brooks has emphasized thenlegend; Howard Hawks contributes tonits debunking.nBorn in the Bible Belt in the firstndecade of the century to a comfortablenmiddle-class family with culmral and intellectualnleanings, Louise Brooksnsmdied dancing, went to New York, andnbecame a choms girl. Aided by her beautynand extraordinarily individual looksnparticularized by her shiny jet cap of hairn(did the style of the 20’s invent her or shenit?), she quickly became involved withnnumerous wealthy men who originatednDr. Fox is afrequent contributor to thesenpages.nnnsaved and wise as George Eliot.” Thatnwould entail a reconciliation of “is” andn”ought,” nature and idea—a reconciliationnunknown to modernity, includingnthe part of modernity that imagines itselfnpostmodern. The older traditions at leastngive the appearance of effecting thisnreconciliation. On what terms can wenreturn to them? Appelfeld and Ozicknhave yet to discover a way. They do identifynfalse ways, however, which alwaysnneeds to be done, In their search, theynhave more allies than they believe. Non-nJews, as well, cannot quite satisfy themselvesnwith things as they are, or believenwhat ideologues tell them should be. Dnthe Manhattan cafe society. Like manynother chorus girls, Brooks went to Hollywoodnto make silent movies. However,nher need for independence, her rebelliousness,nand her downright contrarinessnconflicted with the businesslike,npragmatic world view of the men whonran Hollywood; this tension flavored herncareer and was responsible for its brevity.nHer great triumphs were not in the U.S.nbut in Europe. Summoned to Germanynby director G. W. Pabst, Brooks madentwo outstanding silent movies whichnhave transformed her into a cult figure:nPandora’s Box and Diary of a Lost Girl.nHer veneration of Pabst contrasts distinctlynwith her contempt for Americannmoviemakers. Despite opportunities tonstay in Europe and star in other moviesnthere, Brooks’s natural waywardness,ncoupled with her unbridled hedonism,ncatapulted her into one reckless affairnafter another. This lack of discipline innboth her personal and professional livesncaused her to cavalierly disregard all thenpossibilities that Europe offered and tonremrn to Hollywood, where conflict andndisagreement soon aborted her career.nHer book is a compendium of articlesnwritten over the last 25 years for variousnpublications such as Sight and Sound,nFilm Culture, London Magazine, andnznDecember 198Sn