Page Four
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Sunday, March 16, 1973
Page Four THE MICHIGAN DAILY
_r
PASSOVER SEDERS
and MEALS
SEDERS-7:30 P.M.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26--$8.50
THURSDAY, MARCH 27-$8.50
MEALS
THURSDAY, MARCH 27 through
THURSDAY, APRIL 3
LUNCH-12 NOON (after services-$3.25 each
or $30.00 for ten meals)
DINNER--6:00 p.m.-$3 25 each or $30.00 for
ten meals
Reservations must be made at Hillel by Thursday, March
20. No reservations by phone.
All meals at HILLEL-1429 Hill
663-3336
____________BOOKS
ON NATIVE GROUND
The Modernists in poetry and prose:
Have they pierced the heart of America?
A HOMEMADE WORLD: THE
AMERICAN MODERNIST
WRITERS. By Hugh Kenner.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 220
pp., $8.95.
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EIGHT BUFFALO WOMEN
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C EVLL E S
By RICHARD STREICKER
UUGH KENNER'S last book
was about Buckminster Ful-
ler, and with the publication of
A Homemade World we see
where the attraction lies. Ken-
ner, like Bucky himself, cooks
up a storm of ideas on every
subject. Like Bucky, he often
lacks or disdains the critical
ability to winnow the good ideas
from the crackpot ones. Like
Bucky, he publishes them all,
trusting something fertile will
emerge in the mind of his read-
ers.
A Homemade World purports
to be about a collection of peo-
ple called the American Moder-
nist Writers, a collection which
includes Hemingway, Fitzgerald
and Faulkner among the novel-
ists, and Eliot, Pound, Stevens,
William Carlos Williams and
Marianne Moore among poets.
Kenner's thesis is that these
eight writers reshaped and re-
created American language and
literature in the twentieth cen-
tury by fashioning new aesthe-
tics of language without refer-
ence to earlier European mod-
els-hence the idea of "a home-
made world." It won't wash
completely, of course, and in
fact Kenner spends little time
buttressing this overall argu-
ment. It is natural to want to
find a connection between all
these writers, if only for the
sake of tidiness, but A Home-
made World neither stands nor
falls on its success in proving
this connection.
As a critc, Kenner is talented
in certain directions. If his gen-
eralizations flounder from the
effort of tryng to yoke together
disparate elements, his in-depth
treatment of single works is
masterly, even brilliant. Here
Kenner shows himself the mas-
ter classroom teacher. We can
I
appreciate the fertility of his
thinking when he confines him-
self to The Great Gatsby or to
Williams' poem "The Red
Wheelbarrow" because with one
specific text before us we can
easily sift through Kenner's
ideas and choose among them
for ourselves.
HE HAS THE happy facility
for turning a work of art in-
side out, examining it from all
angles, and drawing an aston-
ishing number of conclusions
about it, some ridiculous and
some so solid that you wonder
why you never thought of them
yourself. This is the mark of a
good teacher. Nobody tops Ken-
ner in making comprehensible
the workings of the modern po-
em or the interrelation of the
parts of a novel. His prose has
an energy rarely found in criti-
cal writing and his breezy style,
which betrays him when he ov-
erreaches himself, is perfectly
suited to the exegesis of the sin-
ale work.
length poem on a dull spot in
New Jersey. Wallace Stevens
has little to do with America
aside from his work with the in-
surance company and Marianne
Moore, one of our most delight-
ful poets, still fails to square
with Hemingway's idea of "sin-
cerity" that Kenner rightfully
places at the head of American
literary values.
PY THIS CRITERION the list
of American modernists
must be expanded mainly in the
area of fiction. Americans are
storytellers, expansive front-
porch ramblers-on, and poetry
in this century has been essen-
tially reductivist, gnomic, obs-
curantist. The liberation of the
word as object and the substi-
tution of typography for state-
ment and emotion is basically a
European phenomenon, wholly
alien to American experience.
The main line of American lit-
erature goes from Twain and
Whitman in the last century
through Sherwood Anderson and
Thomas Wolfe, and includes
Theodore Dreiser, Damon Run-
yon, James T. Farrell, John
dos Passos, Ring Lardner, Hen-f
ry Miller, Norman Mailer and
dozens of others - as well as
Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and
Faulkner. There are ways in
which these are not our best
craftsmen.
Dreiser and Farrell wrote
prose as theavy and cluttered
as that of D. H. Lawrence, yet
Studs Lonigan and An American
Tragedy, along with dos Passos'
USA, are important landmarks
of a country and a century
growing up together, the cen-
tury in which this country grew
to adulthood and to paramount-
cy among the nations of the
world. There is much to find
fault with in America and Am-
ericans, but there is also much
to praise and consider that nev-
er found its way into the closed
world of the poetry of Wallace
Stevens.
For all the brilliance of A
Homemade World - and its
brilliance in parts is undeniable,
achieving as it does a complete
orientation to twentieth-century
Amercan literature in 221 pages
- it is not precisely the book
we need. America's bicenten-
nial lies only a year away, and
we desperately need to re-ex-,
Hemingway
amine American literature in
this century. We need a great'
book to.pick up the lost threads
of our recent literature and1
weave them into a coherent pic-I
ture of ourselves and the his-
tory of our country.
A RECONSIDERATION of the
standard authors, no matter{
how skillfully executed, cannot'
make up for what these authors
themselves leave out. In a Uni-
versity literature program ones
inevitably touches upon all eightc
of Kenner's authors. But who
reads John dos Passos today?
What Professor assigns Studs
Lonigan? Winesburg, 0 h i o
Eliot
MARCH 16
clings to the bottom of reading
lists, but what about Ring Lard-
ner's stories or the Broadway
tales of Damon Runyon? What
the University leaves out, Ken-
ner does not touch upon, either.
LIKE SO MANY Homers in re-
duced circumstances, our
most American writers spin
their stories in this way. Burst-
ing from the constraints of the
nineteenth-century forms, these
storytellers are the true Ameri-
can modernists.
Richard Streicker is a recent
graduate of the University and
a Hopwood Award winner.
- APRIL 5
reception - sunday, march 16, 4p.m.
UNION GALLERY MICHIGAN UNION
UNIVERSITY OF mICHJIGAN ANN ARBOR
gallery hours, tuesday & thursday 1-8; wednesday, friday & saturday 10-5; sunday 12-5
Come meet the artists at a recep-
tion--Sunday, March 16, 4 p.m.
%NE NIGHT ONLY!'
World's Greatest 2-Man Band1
Mod March 17th
9 p.m.
516 E. Liberty
Join The Daily Staff
Whatever you think of Ken-
ner's idea of an American aes-
thetic handmade of wood and
stone, the question must arise
of selection of authors. Kenner
picked eight. They are the big
guns, pretty much what any
English professor would have
picked. One would have a hard
time making additions or sub-
stitutions without discarding the
whole idea of "leadng authors".
Yet there is a memorable pas-
sage in Roger Kahn's The Boys
of Summer where the newspap-;
er reporters, who as a group
are notoriously interestedein
that sort of thing, debate wheth-
er Thomas Worlfe or Sherwood
Anderson came closer to theI
great beating heart of America.
If we think of "being American"
in that way - in the twentieth
century split from the kind of
jEnglish-style writing which
bound all our authors of the last
century, with the towering ex-
ception of Walt Whitman - it's
a whole different ballgame.
We stick with Hemingway and
Faulkner, of course, and the
Fitzgerald of Gatsby if we re-
member that his prose mould be,
much more ghastly than that of;
the much-maligned Sherwood
Anderson. Eliot must go, for
there is no more disgraceful
sight than an American trying
to be an Englishman. Pound;
stays as a legitimate successor
to Whitman, and Williams stays.
if only because he wrote a book-j
COUPLES
Masters and Johnson take a
look at love and commitment
THE PLEASURE BOND: A
NEW LOOK AT SEXUALITY
A N D COMMITTMENT By
William Masters and Virginia
Johnson with Robert J. Levin.
New York: Little, Brown Co.,
268 pp., $8.95.
By JULIE STOCKLER
WILLIAM MASTERS andl
categorized lists.
I remember discovering their
first volumes, Human Sexual
Response and Human Sexual
Inadequacy while in early ado-
lescence. I'm sure I didn't ap-
preciate the content as much]
as the sight of forbidden words
in print. Do not charge through;
their latest work in a similar
the mind into gross neuroses
As secret fears turn inward, be
havior in the pair bond alters
needlessly, denying both part-
ners the opportunity to draw u-, .At .
on their mutual trust forrelief
The "I don't feel like it to-ยข.
night, honey," syndrome is a
prime example. A simule rets-"
al triggers bitter feelings and
the rejection may become swell-
ed out of context. The mate sees
this as a reflection of personal
inadequacy and undesirability,
when in truth daily pressures wig, these ordinary folk illus-
sometimes result in an honest trate the universality of many
desire to escape into sleep. sexual problems and allow the
A committed couple must authors to comment both in the
communicate to ease such feel- discussion and in the essays
ings and retain the bond be- summarizing each.
1teen them. By fully under-
Virginia Johnson originally' search for lewd diagrams. The
approached t h e professional Pleasure Bond, written in col-
world with scientific data ex- laboration with Robert J. Levine
r
TONIGHT!
Winners & Highlights
OF THE
13[h
Ann Arbor
Film Festival
Screeninqs at 7, 9 & 11 at
both Architecture Aud. &
Aud. A, Anqell Hall. Aud. A
location is I e s crowded.
Tickets on sale at 6:00 p.m.
$1.25
Old Architecture
Auditorium
TAPPAN at MONROE
Program info-662-8871
The festival is co-sponsored
by Cinema Guild &
Dramatic Arts Council
ploring and exposing h u m a n
sexual behavior. Their medical
textbooks quickly advanced be-
yond the clinical eyes of doctors
and psychologists into the book-
shelves and nightstands of mass
reading audiences. Within two
decades, the phrase Masters-
and-Johnson has come to denate
a team of sexual technologists
who turned the most secret
sexual anxieties into graphs, the
most passionate behavior into
of Redbook Magazine, demn-
strates an understanding of the
emotions involved, not in labo-
ratory copulation, but in safe-
guarding a loving and com-
mitted sexual relationship.
Areas discussed fall into one
clearly stated category: xvhat
happens when the honeymoon is
over, w h e n the excitement
grinds down into routine and
standing the disaster rejection
wreaks upon the usual ego, a
partner may gently respond in a
warmer fashion than the "I
have a headache" routine.
sexual harmony collapses with
a dull thud. "The belief that HE BOOK exclusively can-:
with the loss of novelty sex must 1 vasses conflicts in terms of
lose its power to arouse passion both members of the pair,?
isa assumponssumption. ike stressing the necessity of unity
all assumptions, it risks being in attacking problems. One of
turned into a self-fulfilling pro- the more interesting theories
phecy, they warn. discussed is the unconscious in-I
BUT NOT necessarily. Mas-
ters and Johnson offer their
experience and insight as a me-
thod of "preventive medicine,"
drawing primarily upon the
powers of communication as a
cure. Surprisingly enough in a
decade pretending sexual so-
phistication, many find the on-
set of sexual satisfaction a soli-
tary anxiety. Relatively com-
mon concerns then magnify in
corporation of stereotypes in
most sexual relationships. The
use of these fallacies is a com-:
mon camouflage for dysfunc-:
tion: no, I can't be aggressive,'
that's his role; no, she doesn't
like sex because women don't
have such drives. Despite at-
tempts at enlightment, the doc-
tors suggest, the Victorian con-
cept of sexual role-playing is:
nevertheless imbedded in even
the most modern couple.
The various essays in The
Pleasure Bond are presented in
a vehicle that is both captivat-
ing and informative. The text
includes five symposiums in:
which Masters and Johnson
speak with non-professional men
and women. These small groups'
consist sometimes of couples
randomly assembled to discuss
their marriage, others are indi-
viduals of varying background
with one common experience,!
swinging couples or divorcees,
for example. With little prompt-
MAJOR FLAW in the sym-
posiums, however, is that
they do rot really seem to be a
represental ?.ve sectiv-" of the us-
tal adult. Participants are mar-
r'ed for secoid and third times,
active members of swinging
clubs, or happily drowning in a
series of extra-marital afairs.
Perhaps I am naive. No where
in the book did I meet a couple
happily married for twenty-five
years to the same person.
The unusual habits of their
groups does not seem to bother
the authors. They never hesitate
to chailz'age the honesty of a
speaker, almost as a psychia-
trist attempts to make painful
'ruths surface. Although rarely
passing judgement on even with
most controversial lifestyles,
Masters and Johnson neverthe-
less are not gentle. When one
gentleman muses that it would
be fun to have babies "to watch
something grow and develop"
Virginia Johnson suggests he
get a plant instead.
The Pleasure Bond is neither
a handbook for sexual prowess
nor a jiffy cookbook for success-
ful relationships. It is an excel-
lently written argument for
committment and responsibility
in an effective relationship. Ev-
en without the diagrams.
Julie Stockler is a junior who
has devised her major of science
writing.
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THE ANN ARBOR FILM
CO-OP will hold open meet-
ings on March 16, 23 &s
30th for those interested in
ioinina our board If you
want to participate in vari-
ous film activities, "film
showinas, festivals, organiZ-
inq film makers," please
come see us Sun., March 16
at 4:00 'p.m, in Blaqdon
Room at the Michiqan
League.
I
I
T-
I
I
i
I
.,
I
g ($ $tr
gjo Mi ijpn ti,
OFFICE HOURS
CIRCULATION - 764-0558
COMPLAINTS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
0 a.m.-4 p.m.
CLASSIFIED ADS - 764-0557
10 o.m.-4 p.m.
DEADLINE FOR NEXT DAY-12:00 p.m.
DISPLAY ADS - 764-0554
MONDAY thru FRIDAY-12 p.m,-4 p.m.
Deadline for Sunday issue-
WEDNESDAY at 5 p.m.
I
7:30 p.m.-Wednesday, Mar. 19
*30 people from the class will be selected
to participate in the clinic, Saturday,
March 22 ($5 fee) ,
4
4
LEARN TO TUNE YOUR OWN CAR
for BETTER MILEAGE-CLEANER AIR
PROF. APYEH GOREN
PROFESSOR OF AMERICAN HISTORY AT THE
HEBREW UNIVERSITY
4:00 P.M.-"The Search for Community; the
Puritan Way and the Kibbutz Way, Some
Comparisons."
M.L.B. Lecture Room 1
Jacobson's Open Thursday and Friday Evenings Until 9:00 P.M.
Sunday Until 5:30 P.M.
JacobsoI'~s
BEAUTY SALON
SUDDENLY, . .
Y'U'RE LOVELIER
...free of the facial
hair that mars your good
I
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Ewi
min
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