the Lower East Side moved withnastonishing, ferocious dynamismninto this newly opened fieldnof economic activity, where sellingnimages—a cultural merchandise—suddenlynbecame anroute to unheard-of wealth,npower and glories. They, themselves,nwere often cutthroats andngamblers, ruthless exploitersnand workaholics, mercilessnschemers and frivolous hypocrites.nBut, paradoxical as itnsounds, they were in love withnthe Little Lord Fauntleroy ethos,nwith the Louisa May Alcottnmoral aesthetics, with British-nVictorian gentlemanliness as thenparadigm of humanness, withnNew England’s puritanicalnGemiitlichkeit, with the superbnessnof Yankee uprightness,nwith Norman Rockwell’s romanticndemocracy; they believed innthe pluralistic idealism of thenAmerican Dream, Whethernthey put their brutal energy intonproducing and marketing thatnDream because there was a willingnaudience to pay for it or becausenthey wished to strengthennthe ideals inherent in it is obscurenand debatable. Theyncheated and ripped off one another,nbut in their product theynglorified old-fashioned heroism,nsimplistic integrity and sentimentalndecency. If the AmericannDream is an idea ensconced innsome not-too-profound civilizationalnphilosophy and moralnprinciple, then those moviemakingnJews gave it a shallow,nbut forceful and durable, visualnessnwhich deeply influencednthree generations. They originatedna new folklore derivednfrom technological advances andnthe free market. This new folklorencelebrated the Americannidentity as the inexhaustiblensource of honorableness andnhonesty, and, as such, becameninscribed in the consciousness ofnthe world. Those early mogulsnmay have wallowed in lechery,nbut they upheld seminal conventionality;nthey even knewn38inChronicles of Cultarenhow to present Marlene Dietrich,na card-carrying lesbian, asnthe most feminine of symbols.nThe fashionable urbanization ofnmores and pleasures that begannin the 20’s, the rampant materialismnof Hollywood’s GoldennAge, somehow were transmutednunder their treatment into annunextinguished yearning fornvintage goodness.nBy the 1920’s every townshipnin America had its secular shrinen—the movie house—where, onnA Suede StockingnGail Sheehy: Pathfinders; WilliamnMorrow & Co.; New York.nby Carol KettenbutgnIn 1976 Gail Sheehy elucidatednthe “passages,” or life crises,nthat one faces in adulthood. Hernlatest book. Pathfinders, profilesnpeople who have foundnpaths through these passagesnand have attained a nirvanalikenstate of alleged well-being. Thisnis in essence a how-to book, butnone in which the author reveals andisconcerting lack of how-tonknowledge on the subject.nImagine a pseudosophisticatedn”happiness-is” book that rejectsnthe word happy as superficialnand frivolous, then defines happinessn(pardon me, well-being)nin the dreary, self-liberationnterms that masquerade thesendays as wisdom. All good pathfinders,nsays Ms. Sheehy, live bynthe notion that they cannot bencontent unless they have fullncontrol over their lives. Thosensuffering under another’s con-nWASTE OF MONEYnMiss Kettenburg is a librariannat the San Diego MaritimenMuseum.nSaturday evenings, existentialnfantasies and spiritual aspirationsnwere worshiped. Duringnthose observances, the entertainingndidactics of simple butnwholesome values was consignednto the good guys who chased thenbad ones. Those small-townntemples molded everything,nfrom passions to ethics. They arennow gone with the subculturalnwinds of the 60’s and 70’s—andnperhaps that’s why we all are sonmiserable these days. (LT) •ntrol—be they wives under heartlessnhusbands or executivesnunder heartless corporations—nmust break away and forge pathsnmore to their liking.nnnIn the MailnIn all fairness to Ms. Sheehy,nshe does not condone irresponsiblenself-preoccupation or thendead end of narcissism. She evennconcedes that the surrender ofnsome control to God may benhealthy, as long as it is not carriednto extremes. But the Christiann”televangelists,” with theirnmessage of total submission tonGod’s will, inspire in her visionsnof oily preachers who prey on thenweak and helpless. In what hasnby now become a banality of thenself-appointed defenders ofnAmerica’s freedom, Ms. Sheehyncondemns the Moral Majoritynfor its coercive and totalitariannimpulses. Despite her claims tontolerance and objectivity, Ms.nSheehy will tolerate no one whonviolates the accepted norms ofn”enlightened” intellectualsnsuch as herself. For all her talknabout pathfinding, Gail Sheehynoffers little more than the meanderingsnof a mind hopelesslyncommitted to the insipidities ofnpop psychology. Dn”Doctors Against Health” by Petr Beckmann; The Golem Press; Boulder,nColorado. A booklet by the editor and publisher oi Access to Energy whichnpresents evidence of how some doctors advocate policies that damage, rathernthan improve, public health as it relates to the benefits or dangers of nuclearnelectric power.n”Morning’s Come Singing” by James Faces; American Poetry Press; Claymont,nDelaware. A booklet of poetry by an associate professor of English atnNorwich University.nThe New Right Papers edited by Robert W. Whitaket; St. Mattin’s Press;nNew York. A collection of well-written essays expressing the principles,nvalues, historical context and politics of the new right by such authors asnWilliam Rusher, Paul Weyrich, Richard Viguerie, Clyde Wilson and ThomasnFleming.nLetters to Barbara by Glenn Meeter; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.;nGrand Rapids, Michigan. An exploration of human strengths andnweaknesses in a novel about the stmggle of an ethnic and religious minoritynin America of the 1950’s.nPicaros, Madmen, Naifs, and Clowns: The Unreliable First-Person Narratornby William Riggan; Oklahoma University Press; Norman,nOklahoma. An examination and definition of the fictional autobiographern. in Ametican, British, Spanish, Getman, Latin and Near Eastern literatute,nincluding such works as Moll Flanders, Tristam Shandy, Lolita, The TinnDrum and The Catcher in the Rye.n