Prof. Leeds' Social Study of Mailer's Works

Prof. Barry H. Leeds of Cen - social critic in the constant prox-
imity to contemporary social is-
tral Connecticut State College tho-

roughly reviews the writing of

racteristics serve a definite pur-

pose in a critical review.

sue in America."

individual Mailer
the
From
Norman Mailer. His analyses. pub-
The characters Roth and Gold- I poems, Dr. Leeds selects a num-
lished by New York University stein in "The Naked - and the
Press, are a mark of splendid re- Dead" are contrasted in the crit- ber, including:
search and of remarkable exami- ical review and the attitudes are
if
nation of an author's intent as well quoted to indicate the conflict be-
Harry Golden
as accomplishment.
tween Roth who is proud that his
is the gentile's
In "The Structured Vision of parents were "modern" and who'
J eri;
Norman Mailer," Dr. Leeds treats sees Goldstein as an "old grand-
and
his novels chronologically. He poses father full of mutterings
con I h '
the question why Mailer did not curses."
the Golden Goy?
achieve "the degree of fictional
Prof. Leeds points out that "it
control to- write the massively sig- is Goldstein's grandfather, in fact,
nificant work which he himself who in the time machine sequence ! The Vietnam issue, the Mailer
and his readers have expected of presents the most valid definition view of President Johnson, the vast
variety of other Mailerisms are
of what is a Jew."
him."
Mailer is adjudged "cynical There is the anti - Semitic angle part of this study which adds val-

and pessimistic" in his role as
"a perceptive and conscientious

to which reference is made and uably to discussions of contempo-

the analyses of the Jewish cha- rary literature.

Robbins' Inheritors' Completes .Trilogy

In the new novel, Sam Benja-
a Merchants" in 1949, "The Carpet-
Harold Robbins completed
trilogy about the motion picture baggers" in 1961" and now, in min emerges as a dynamic per-
industry, begun 20 years ago, in "The Inheritors," he emerges as sonality who gambles for high
his new novel, "The Inheritors," a brilliant story teller, as well as stakes. The other major charac-
published by Trident Press. a thoroughly informed writer on ter is Stephen Gaunt, who is de-
scribed by the author as "The
He had written "The Dream the Hollywood industry.
Reflexible Man."
The contest for power between
these strikingly disparate char-
acters provides the stirring drama
"Treatise on Language" by aspirations to culture, snobbish of the book — and shares many of
A. B. Johnson (1786 - 1867) was like pretcntions and pedantic folly that the same roots of the present gen-
an introduction to modern studies are involved in the evolution of eration gap.
of semantics. Today this work is any language.
Benjamin and Gaunt are per-
a guide to language studies,
haps most alike in the depth of
and its significance gains momen-
their commitment to what each of
Gibson Girl' them believes. One a slugger, the
turn by virtue of its introduction of I 1
..
the concept that "tio language is
a counterpuncher, they
other
more important than a correct ap- Historic
choose opposite personal morali-
preciation of language."
America's unforgettable "Gibson ties and each does battle in his
Dover Publications has just re- Girl" is recognized all over the own way. The reader, thrown back

Treatise on Pioneering in Semantics ,

TRADER
VIC•S

AT vzota

plat iaelcct ~ r

perback.

world as the embodiment of the

mood and fashion of the 1890s. '
work is edited and introduced by Elegant. aloof, and cooly seduc-
David Rynin of the University of tive, she was the epitome and
California. Berkeley, who dis- idealization of femininity, and her
cusses Johnson's philosophy of lan- popularity foreshadowed that of
guage in a critical essay at the
end of the book. According to movie stars. Her creator, Charles

Dover's edition of this important

Rynin, this work on "the relation Dana Gibson (1867-1944) became
which words hear to things" , one of the most popular illustrators

(caches us the constitutional capa- this country ever produced. Now

upon his own experience, must
privately conclude which of these
men truly wins and which loses.
Other characters in the novel,
actors and actresses, some recog-
nizable in the Hollywood arena,
combine to offer a panoramic view
of a great industry, of the con-
diets within it, of the human fac-
tors and rivalries that make the
film center so attractive to all,
viewers of movies and those who
are anxious for the gossip as well
as news about the acting pro-

Willies and incapabilities of lan- his heroine and her beaus have a
starring role in Edmnd Gillon's
guage.
fine selection of Gibson's drawings fession.
The history of the English Ian-
guage—from the adoption of East The Gibson Girl and Her Amer-
as a paperback.
Midland dialect as standard form tea," issued
The effect that Gibson's draw-
in the '1\4th Century to the present
level of English as almost a uni- ings had on his cont%mporaries is
versal language—is the subject of clearly traced by Henry C. Pitz in
George II. McKnight's "The Evo - an introductory essay. He says that
lution of the English Language: Gibson intuitively absorbed the
from Chaucer to the Twentieth yearnings of his time and crystal-
Century" (Dover paperback re- lized them into captivating pic-
print). This clear, informal, yet torial images.
comprehensive study proves to be
Gibson's drawings were known
entertaining and amusing as well in practically every home in the
as enlightening. According to its land. The craze soon included Gib-
author, the book was written as a son albums, large-size reproduc-
remedy for the inadequate knowl- tions, china plate and saucers,
edge of earlier periods of the Eng- tiles, textiles, and even a Gibson
lish language. This "remedy," an Girl wallpaper designed for bache-
absorbing survey of the history of

and ceonle7 riental
ataine

W

g e,../0/

elevewer

for reservations telephone:
(313) 965-7800

Drawings

issued this historic work as a pa -

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

16—Friday, December 12, 1969

DETROIT HILTON

Washington Blvd. at Grand Circus Park

Nerthlton lowers

e5C9, dee efloa
6coee'nzbeer4 Saveho

9.

go anywhere in Michigan
for a nickel•a•minute.

lors' rooms. His drawings of girls'
heads were traced onto handker-
chiefs and embroidered. All of
these are- now collector's items,
but Dover's collection reveals the
superb quality of his pen and ink
drawings. Graphic artaists, fash-
`Waders of Jacob Street' ion designers, social historians,
and
casual readers will all find
Story of Survival in War
this volume to be an accurate
To count the novels about Jews chronicle of a gilded age.
in World War II, one would need

the language, shows the corre-
sponding progress of the culture
and the shaping power of genius,
the changing social ideals, exhibi-
tions of amusing ignorance, vain

a computer. To know the despera-
tion, the fear, the hopelessness,
and most of all, the will to live,
one need read only "The Baders

of Jacob Street." Henia Karmel-
Wolfe lived in the setting and time
of licr novel. This, as much as any

other first novel, is her story, and
sh e tells it with a haunting sim-

plicity.

The Baders, their friends and
rwiylibors. settle down to watch,

with inounting, horror and disbelief,
as their lives, their homes, the
very basis of their being, are sys-
tematically destroyed. No one has
to tell them, or any of the Jews,
that they have to live. They know
it, and their overriding thought is
to survive and, in doing so, to re-

main the people they have always
been. To do this, they must rely on
the only weapon left them: love.

The Amida

The Amida is the name given
to the basic body of prayer which
is composed of the well-known 18
benedictions (Shmoneh Esreh).
The reason for giving these bene-
dictions the collective name of
Amida (i.e. standing) is because
the worshipper is required to
stand at attention while reciting
his prayers, although he may sit
down during some other parts of
the liturgy.

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