Page Four
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Sunday, October.21,.1973
Page Four THE MICHIGAN DAILY sunday, October 21, 1973
ml
BOOKS
Attention Grad Students
Take a more active role in
your student government
Rackham Student Government is announc-
ing the formation of Committees for Grad-
uate Affairs.
THESE COMMITTEES INCLUDE:
Elections Teaching &
Finance . Teaching Fellows
Communications Women in the
Foreign Students University
Program Planning
For further information contact Rackham Stu-
dent Government, or call 763-0109
NO PRODIGY
An insider's account
misses its target
4N
& Centicore Bookshops
335 Maynard 1229 South University 4
663-1812 665-2604
O CENTICORE HAS BOOKS ABOUT
~ NDIANS
INDIANS OF THE PLAINSj
TO LIVE ON THIS EARTH
REALITY AND DREAMS
THE NAVAJO
STEALING THE PUMPKIN: Traditional Poetry
of the Indians of North America
ECOLOGY AND HEALTH
EATER'S DIGEST: The Consumer's Factbook of
Food AdditivesQ
THE UNCLEAN SKY4
HARVESTING THE CLOUDS
ENVIRONMENT
WATER IS EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS
SSCI ENCE
CRYSTALS AND CRYSTAL GROWING0
SOUND WAVES AND LIGHT WAVES4
SYNTHETIC POLYMERS4
INTERIOR BALLISTICSt
& EVERYTHING4
ADHOCISM: The Case for Improvisationu
GROOKS, Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 64
THE FINE ART OF MIXING DRINKS
I TOUCH THE EARTH, THE EARTH
TOUCHES ME
1, 4,1
THE DANCE OF LEGISLA-
TION By Eric Redman; Simon
and Schuster, New York; 319
pages; $7.95.
By ALAN LENHOFF
WJHEN A twenty-four year old
student sets out to write an
"insider's account" of the U. S.
Senate, one might expect that his
inexperience would work against
him. In Eric Redman's case, that
lack of experience is painfully
clear.
What Redman offers the reader
is not meant to be well-reasoned
political analysis. Nor is he join-
ing in the spirit of Watergate by
exposing Senate improprieties.
Instead, Redman offers a wide-
eyed, first-person account of the
sensitive underpinnings of Con-
gress' - the staffs and commit-
tees - as he traces the devel-
opment and eventual passage of
a piece of minor legislation, the
National Health Service Corps
Act of 1970.
The bill, which set up a team of
medical personnel to be deployed
in poverty areas, is traced from
Redman's perspective as a novice
staffer of Sen. Warren G. Mag-
nuson (D-Wash.). As such, the
reader is privy to Redman's pri-
vateconversations andinegotia-
tions as he works for the mea-
sure's adoption.
THE RESULT is a legislative
roller coaster ride, as Red-
man relates a story in which he
vacillates between exhilaration
and utter despair each time his
pet bill faces a challenge. It
certainly makes for a sus-
pensefully, gripping tale. But is
it an accurate account?
It appears that Redman has
embellished the behind-the-scenes
action for the sake of dramatic
spice. Indeed, much of the
book's interest rests upon Red-
man's humorous portrayalof
himself as an incompetent ner-
Ivous wreck.
Ultimately, most of the prob-
lems the bill encounters are at-
tributable to Redman's bungling.
Somehow, the baby - faced An-
dover - Harvard - Oxford stu-
dent gets "taken" at almost ev-
ery turn, either by other congres-
sional staffers, or by slick civil
servants who enter the picture.
The author apparently wishes the
reader to identify with him during
these disconcerting moments.
If the reader does sympathize,
it is short-lived. It is not long be-
fore Redman somehow encoun-
ters two persons even more naive
than;himself - and he promptly
seizes upon the opportunity by
lying to them in order to extract
promises of support for the bill.
QIMILARLY, in his exuberance
to render his story suspense-
ful, Redman leads the reader to
believe that President Nixon will
veto the measure. Certainly, Nix-
on has every reason to veto it.
HEW Secretary Richardson had
recommended a veto, and Nixon
had previously announced his in-
tention to dismantle the entire
Public Health Service, of which
Manuson's proposal would be-
come a part.
But when Nixon does sign the
bill into law, Redman offers the
reader no explanation. The end-
ing in happy (Redman presum-
ably, is happy enough to drink
himself to death) and the reader
is expected to accept this abrupt
change of events, as he would
in a piece of melodramatic fic-
tion, with no further explanation
necessary.
Thus, in his zeal to make poli-
tics dramatic to the reader,
Redman has written a piece of
drama with very little political
significance.
In retrospect, it is evident why
Redman felt the need to embel-
lish his account in this manner.
Generally, minor legislation spon-
sored by a key Senator (Magnu-
son is the third ranking member
of a Democratic Congress) sails
through with little or no opposi-
tion. This case hardly seems an
exception, as the measure passed
both houses nearly unanimously.
Redman also fails to. get the
Brundy", and how he used to
refer to the premier of France
as "Mr. Poopidoo". "There is
something out of the ordinary
about a man who cancels two
days of campaign appearances
because his dog has died," Red-
man writes.
If Redman's book offers any
real insight into the legislative
branch of the federal govern-
ment, it is in the realm of ex-
posing some of the petty political
MOTORMOUTH
CoselI: From
the man who
should know
By JOHN PAPANEK
F ALL THE names and faces that parade
through our newspapers and light up our tele-
vision screens, very few land with enough punch
to register a substantial impression on the vast-
ness of the American public. Some faces and
personalities become known and judged through
constant exposure - Nixon, Agnew, and some
flash-in-the-pan stars like Sam Ervin. The rest
go fading in and out in blorious mediocrity.
One personality that has been sharp enough to
deliver a blow to an entire public is Howard
Cosell. The sound of his name evokes an intense
reaction from anyone who's ever heard Howard's
voice: gushing over the greatness of Vince Lom-
bardi; needling Muhammad Ali; lambasting an
Olympic coach whose runners missed an event;
blowing his own horn wit unmitigated conceit and
cockiness. To most of us, Cosell is no more than
a voice with a face, yet somehow he has the
power to make a viewer's blood boil, make
him wretch, or make him clench his fist in agree-
ment.
Howard's success story is not miraculous; dur-
ing his climb to the top, he has continuously am-
plified the very character, traits that people find
so obnoxious. "Tell is like it is," is Cosell's credo,
and when it comes to the subject of Howard Co-
sell, he bars no holds. What could be more au-
dacious than to publish an autobiography jacketed
with a caricature of smirking Howie, entitled
Cosell by Cosell?
Whether you love Cosell for his totally re-
freshing approach to sports journalism, or you
simply love to hate him, his book is a dream come
true; 390 non-stop pages of classic Cosell, writ-
ten entirely in Howie's own unique narrative style.
Witness: "arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain,
cruel, prosecuting, distasteful, verbose, a show-
off. I have been called all of these. Of course, I
am."
AS YOUR EYES skim the words, Cosell's un-
mistakeably nasal Brooklyn twang rings clear-
ly in your ears. He does his entire act - re-
lating hilarious stories about his episodes with
Ali, Joe Namath, Sonny Listori, Dandy Don Mere-
dith, Lombardi, tells of his film career. as the
"star" of Woody Allen's Bananas; his hard fought
climb out of the Jewish ghetto of Brooklyn up the
corporate wall at ABC; and of course constant
barbs at "The Establishment," self-righteously
aligning himself as one of the great revolu-
tionaries of the day.
COSELL AND ALI made each other. The two
got together early in their respective careers
(Cosell had been doing local radio and television
...... . ..,:. ,
"The story of a legislative roller coaster ride,
as Redman vacillates between exhilirat ion
and utter despair each time his pet bill faces
challenge . . . Ultimately most of the prob-
lems it encounters are attributable to Red-
man's bungling for he baby-faced Andover-
Harvard Oxford student gets 'taken' at al-
most every turn . . ,. -
Cosell's credo- "Tell it lake it is"
for years before getting much national exposure)
and their on-camera antics are priceless. Both
men were smart enough to see great public ap-
peal possibilities. Cosell would badger A, and
Ali would threaten to "whup Cosell." Before Ali's
rematch with Sonny Liston, Ali came glaring at
Cosell with cameras rolling: "Stop, everybody, I
want you to know this is Howard Cosell. And I'm
going to whup him. He thinks Sonny Liston can
beat me. (To Cosell:) What do you think is going
to happen to the Big Black Bear this time?" Co-
sell. "I still think he can beat you!" Ali: "What?
You Kidding? You must be kidding. I'LL WHUP
YOUR'HIINEY. You hear that? You folks hear
that? Howard Cosell . ."
COSELL LIKES to display example of what he
calls "verbal dexterity." He relates the story
of his first interview with Liston, a thug who
had a record of 20 arrests.
Cosell and Rocky Marciano, his partner for the
broadcast of Liston's fight with Floyd Patterson,
ventured to Liston's training camp-a deserted
race track guarded by a squad of pistol-toting
goons. Cosell watched while Liston's floosie wife
climbed into the ring where Sonny was sparring
and started twisting to "Night Train." Howie sent
Marciano oved to do the inerview. Liston snarled,
"I ain't talking." So Cosell took charge:
"I took my life in my hands and stepped in. I
said 'Now look, Sonny, you're going to- be heavy-
weight champion of the world and it's not going
to take you long. You're going to have to pre-
sent a whole new image to the American public,
because you have a lot to make up for. I don't
give a damn if you hate me; I don't like you
either, and I just met you. But you gotta do this
interview." And of course, Liston did it.
I like Cosell. Howard transcends what spectator
sports in America has come to signify: medio-
crity. He is sincere in doing his job properly, and
the fact that he has made such a splash is testa-
ment to his ability. Howard has the kind of per-
sonality that makes people want him around.
You might have known someone like him in
high school. Obnoxious, vain, cruel, et al, but
fun. If nothing else, you hungered for a chance
to knee him in the groin.
TAPE
RECORDER
0r
0. U
h " " -N
SPECIALISTS
AUTHORIZED WARRANTY "THE FULLY-EQUIPPED
& REPAIR STATION AUDIO LABORATORY"
reader to warm up to Sen. Mag-
nuson, whom he attempts to por-
tray as a liberal hero of sorts. At
times, Redman's slavish loyalty
is not unlike the dog who is fond
of sniffing the seat of his mas-
ter's pants.
MAGNUSON'S Senate record is
at odds with Redman's liberal
portrait. Long known as one of
the Senate's most effective "pork
barrellers," Magnuson jumped
on the social welfarebandwag-
on when his long-time pal LBJ
assumed the presidency. But a
Senator doesn't spend 40 years
in Washington without paying
for it - both to his colleagues
and to the special interest groups
who keep the campaign coffers
filled.
Thus, Redman is hard-pressed
to defend the Senator's affirma-
tive votes on the SST (no doubt,
dictated by pressure from the
Seattle - based Boeing Co.), the
controversial "no knock" police
search provision, and his votes
against reform of the seniority
system.
But if Redman cannot make us
love Magnuson's voting record,
he is determined to make us love
the man for all his foibles. He
relates anecdotes about how Mag-
nuson once introduced Avery
Brundage of the International
Olympic Committee as "Average
goals which motivate the mem-
bers of Songress.
IN EFFECT, Redman is a per-
fect aide to Magnuson. He is
loyal to the end, and his loyalty
overshadows any ideals he may
have. Thus, he is willing to com-
promise the contenttof the Health
Corps bill, in order to ensure that
no matter what the bill says, his
boss reaps the accolades. And
for that the legislative process
surely suffers.
NEW & NOVEL
Theroux: Disarming in his sim,
" Advent 0 Akai
" Altec * Ampex
" Bell & Howell
" BSR 0 Concord
" Craig "Crown
" Dual " Dynaco -
" Electro-Voice
" Garrard 0 Grundig
0 Harmon/Kardon -
* JBL Kenwood
" KLH 0 Lenco0
* Magnocord
" Maontz - ....:
" Mayfair
" Miracord e sC
" Norelco 0 Philips
" Pioneer "*Revox .
" Roberts 0 Sonsui *'' ': 0
" Sanyo - Scan-Dyna e *
" Schaub-Lorenz 9 9 9 3
" Sony/Superscope
" Telex 0 Thorens
" Tandberg " Teac MC Adams Digital Audio Analyzer
" Toshiba " Uher ' tem Model 2000A and Phase Lock
* V-M " Walledsak and Flutter Analyzer Model 1000.
r CONSUMER AND PROFESSIONAL MODELS
" WE DO CUSTOM MODIFICATIONS
-----
By RHEKA JOSEPH
SAINT JACK By Paul The-
roux. Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Co. $5.95, 247 pages.
IF THE novelist is to enjoy a
readership at all he must enter-
tain and inform. Paul Theroux
does both in Saint Jack. In an
age where futuristic novels seem
to be everybody's bottle of booze,
Theroux's novel reeks of the salt
air of Singapore and is disarm-
ing in its simplicity.
We have had picaresque novels
in the past, from Don Quixote
romping through unrealized
': 1
dreams in Spain, to Tom Jones
savoring his amorous experiences
in seventeenth century England.
And now, Saint Jack calls the
tune in Singapore. Who is Saint
Jack? He is Jack Flowers, the
Boston brahmin, a college drop-
out with an impeccable good
taste for the sensuous goodies of
life, a wit who would shame a
Maugham out of his driest hu-
mor, and a pimp who likes his
girls.
All handwriting exposes, in its
loops and slants, the soul of the
writer yearning for aexpression.
This is Flowers' observation as
he starts his memoir, which is
more than a catalogue of unre-
lated experiences. One soon finds
ShF atV
FOLLETTS
or BOOKS
and SUPPLIES
that his initial sobriety, even pes-
simism, are entirely alien to his
nature. His middle age is the
hobgoblin of his mind. Fifty is a
dangerous age, he says, for one
like him who has a tendency to
board sinking ships. Much in the
same manner that he lowered
himself from the rusty stern. of
the Allegro when he arrived in
Singapore fourteen years ago,
he wryly observes that when the
ship is swamped to her gunwales
the man of fifty swims to shore,
to be marooned on a little island
from which there is no rescue,
only different kinds of defeat.
IT IS at the age of fifty, then,
that Flowers finds himself
working in ship chandling for a
tubby Cantonese called Hing. It
is also at the age of fifty that he
meets William Leigh, a new re-
cruit from England, who is sent
over to audit the books at Hing's
office. Flowers at once recog-
nizes in Leigh an extension of
himself and feels for him an in-
ward clutching at self-pity. Flow-
ers' humaneness would have
given of itself if Leigh only stop-
Sys-
Wow
' f',
,
L
r7:id-
Mac .+r+ AiNCApp
A BUTTERFIELD THEATRES
EXCLUSIVE
FOOTBALL
WIDOWS NIGHT
AT THE MOVIES
Every Monday night
thru Monday, Dec. 10th
Is your husband hypnotized by
the TV escapades of the LIONS,
Dolphins, etc.? Fly the coop! We
welcome "football widows" with
sp cial low admission pricesand
all the popcorn you can eat for
25c.
MONDAY NIGHT
all Football
widows admitted
FOR $1.
MAKE UP A PARTY
of "widows"
and attend these
Butterfield Theatres
STATE-CAMPUS-
MICHIGAN & WAYSIDE
Sun., Oct. 21
SDT
Spaghetti Dinner
5-8 p.m.
1405 H I LL ST.
$1.75
Proceeds for Israeli Emergency Fund
plicity
ped being prissy and calling him
Flowers. He decides to ob-
serve Leigh closely, this version
of himself.
IN PARTS II and III, Flowers
evaluates his own dreams,
ambitions and reactions to life.
He has always dreamed of being
rich; being poor was the pro-
mise of success and the antici-
pation of fortune made the ro-
mance. He composes a litany to
himself which begins Sir Jack,
President Jack, King John, as if
he cannot decide which title suits
him best. In his fantasy he sees
no reason for stopping at king.
Saint Jack!
But his more concrete ambi-
tion lies in the direction of writ-
ing. He writes verses and begins
an autobiographical book about a
character called John Fiori, a
fashionable version of Jack Flow-
ers. But writing is lonely and he
is often bored with it. If the book
is a success he decides to write
another about success and if it
should fail he would write one
about failure.
How an American lives in a
British colony is sufficient mater-
ial in itself for a novel and it is
worth the reader's while to find
out whether or not Flowers re-
turns to his homeland.
USING a simple, racy style,
Theroux avoids all of the
convulsions of obscurity that nar
the works of good novelists in
their efforts to be profound. The
plunge toward neo-realism as ex-
emplified in Theroux's novel
places real people in realistic sit-
uations. This is all the more true
because he knows his milieu and
can offer precisely what it de-
mands of him. Further, his travel
experiences guard against sins of
insularity and parochialism. His
greatest asset is that he has ab-
sorbed an eclectic philosophy of
life and with it an easy tolerance
of idiosyncrasies. And this has
fond its wav into his novel.
.. .
-
I
I
Complete Audio Repair
I
we know how to properly repair & align tape recorders
"ALL MAKES & MODELS"
663-4152
300 S. THAYER
lower concourse of Bell Tower Hotel-Ann Arbor
II
1l
Why shoul
be a
Why study for the priesthood?
Why be part of a dying institu-
tion? Why commit yourself to
celibacy? Indeed, why get
closer to misery in a world that
is already miserable enough?
There aren't any easy
answers to these questions-
even for a Paulist. But he knows
that today's world desperatelv
and listens for the sounds of
love. Men like the Paulists
rekindle our spirits and their
love for Him includes and
embraces all of us.
Every Paulist is a mission-
ary. Whether he is in the pulpit
or the parish house, on campus
or in ghettos ... whether he
communicates with the spoken
word or the printed word, the
Paulist is talking about what
concerns him most: the love of
Christ for all people.
If you are looking for
answers, talk to us. Together
we may find them. For more
information about the Paulist
priesthood, send for THE
PAULIST PAPERS-an exciting
new kit of articles, posters
INASSAU
MASS
MEETING
MARKLEY HALL:
Lounge 4
Tues., Oct. 23
7:00 P.M.
UNION: Assembly Hall
Wednesday, Oct. 24t
7:00 P.M.
FREE FILM & FUN
BOTH NITES!!!
Coll U.A.C. Travel for details
763-2147
on any book/books
Ned's Bookstore & Student Book Service
(formerly of Ann Arbor)
ANNOUNCE
GIGANTIC WAREHOUSE SALE
OCT. 1 OCT. 23
;.