one did not. That’s the wholenpoint of a collection of humorousnessays; it’s a sort of dessertncart from which one may picknand choose. It makes no differencenif one selects thenNapoleon or the strudel—everybodynenjoys som’rrhing.nAny dedicated smoker is guaranteednto share in her enthusiasmnfor the sport—along withnher puzzled disdain for the morenmilitant nonsmokers among us.nPerhaps one day members of thisn”oppressed minority,” as Ms.nLebowitz calls smokers, will collectntheir cellophane packets,nmatches and lighters and organizentheir own protests—withnLebowitz 35 their patron saint.nThe Lebowitz travel tips arenwickedly astute and to the point,nbut incomplete. For instance,nshe left out several essentialnfacts:n—Whenever one mustnchange planes, it is a certaintynthat the respectivengates will be at oppositenends of the terminal.n—Planes do occasionallynleave on time (contrary tonMs. Lebowitz’s conviction),nbut only if one’s incoming,nconnecting flightnHumanisin’s FinestnJoseph Wambaugh: Tie GlitternDome: William Morrow & Co.; NewnYork.nTom Wolfe considers JosephnWambaugh a major contemporarynwriter and looks forward toneach of his new novels. Wolfe isncertainly not alone in his views.nWambaugh, a former Los Angelesnpoliceman who writes aboutnthe precincts and the men he hasnknown so well, seems to be onenof our most humane writersnthese days; he attempts to createna complete world populatednwith characters about whom onen36inChronicles of Culturenis late. The airline personnelnthus have the pleasurenof superciliously informingnthe panting passengernthat he was supposed tonhave checked his luggagensomewhere else half annhour ago.n—A vacation that beginsnwith two hours of Smokeynand the Bandit Part II (as ancaptive audience 20,000nfeet in the air) may benseriously endangered.nShe comments on apartmenthuntingnin the Big Apple, hightechndecor, the servant problem,nchildren, pets—in short, aboutnpeople, human beings, the waynthey choose to live. She exposesntheir affectations and the “in”nfads to the uncompromising, ifnpolluted, sunlight just outsidenher “one-room, rent-controllednslum apartment” and lets usnchuckle with her at them.nOscar Wilde she is not. Onenreads Fran Lebowitz for an occasionalnglimpse of others’ (andnone’s own) sillinesses. And, innan era when we are afflicted withnthe Kurt Vonnegut-John Irvingnbrand of merriment, perhapsnthat’ s enough. (BK) Dncan really care. His ribald, obscene,nfrequently black humor isnhilarious rather than hateful. InnThe Choirboys, a vice squad’sncynical wit serves as the men’snprotection and defense againstnthe barrage of tragic and gruesomenencounters which make upntheir daily routine; sudden shiftsnto genuine anger and horror becomenall the more effective inncontrast to the antic merriment.nThe Glitter Dome has most ofnthe familiar elements of Wambaughnnovels: the intense intimacynof police partners; thenenormous stress of police worknon marriages; the crackup orneven suicide of a policeman nonlonger able to cope with an overwhelmingnreality; a celebrationnof LA’s multifaceted ethnicity;nthe unspeakable, haunting terrornof child abuse and, prevalentnthroughout, an indictment ofnthe current liberal culmre whichnvilifies and hampers police whilenglorifying and coddling criminals.nHis philosophy of socialnOur YokenIN FocusnKennedy Fraser: The FashionablenMind: Reflections on Fashion,n1970-1981; Alfred A. Knopf;nNew York.nby Mary Ellen FoxnAnyone who enjoyed KennedynFraser’s sporadic columnsnon fashion in The New Yorkernfor the last decade or so shouldnbe pleased to see them collectednin book form. They hold upnquite well, and for a subject asnephemeral a5 fashion, date surprisinglynlittle. Her observationsnon the pompous extravaganza ofnfashion shows, female dandyism,nthe body fitness cult,nDr. Fox advises a high-fashionnboutique in Winnebago County,nIllinois.nnnaiticism was most overtly articulatednin The New Centurions,nWambaugh’s first book, but thenauthor’s condemnation of thenglistening corruption of Hollywoodnand the larger cormptionnof a society with too much hcensenis the implicit theme innthis novel.nLess episodic than his previousnbooks. The Glitter Dome is a coherentnmystery thriller, but plotntakes second place to the characterizationsnof the collective heroesnand villains. Wambaugh’snpolicemen are never sentimentalizednor idealized; they arenpresented as forces for good in anworld containing much evil.nWithout moralizing, Wambaugh’snattitude toward the humanncondition is moral, populisticnand understanding; onencan say that nothing human isnalien to him.(MEF) DnFrench couture and the avantgardenNew York Soho scene arenstill relevant today. But Fraser’snteal contribution to the subject isnher title essay, which extends thenmeaning of fashion to its broadestndefinition and points out itsnmany ramifications. Fashion,nFraser maintains, influencesnmuch more than a way of dressnor choice of “lifestyle.” It is allencompassingnin its effect on ournlives:nIt’s there wherever politicalnstrategies are planned,nrriovies made, books published,nart exhibitsnmounted, critical columnsnturned out, dances danced,neditorial policies formulated,nacademic theses, germinatedn. . . Fashion usuallynis neither named norn