Sunday, November 4, 1973

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Page Five

Sunday, November 4, 1973 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Five

PROF ILES


ISRAELI ART EXHIBIT


II'

H. Auden a
Reflec tiom

By JEFF SORENSEN
AN ESSENTIALLY p r i v a t e
man, W. H. Auden had a
small circle of friends who knew
him well. Certainly he didn't ac-
tively seek a favorable public
image.
As a result, it's not widely
known that Auden, the great Eng-
lish poet who died in Vienna at
66 last month, once taught and
worked at the University of Mich-
igan - back in 1941-42. Few
knew him well when he was
here and fewer yet, who are still
living in Ann Arbor, remember
him at all.
Auden was at the University
during one of the most import-
ant junctions of his career - at
a time when he renounced Marx-
ism, moved from his native
country, England, and the focus
of his work changed from social
and political criticism to an

emphasis on individual feelings.
Auden is most famous for writ-
ing The Age of Anxiety, which
won him the Pulitzer Prize in
1948. And it came as a surprise
to many when Austrailian au-
thor Patrick White was recent-
ly awarded the Nozel Prize for
Literature rather than Auden,
who will never again be eligible.
IN 1939 Auden moved from Eng-
land to New York City. Dur-
ing the winter of 1941, Auden
gave a lecture in Rackham Audi-
torium which was so well receiv-
ed that he was invited to teach
here - and he accepted.
He taught "Analysis of Poetry"
during Fall 1941 and "Fate and
the Individual in European Lit-
erature" during Winter 1942.
While he was here he was also
working on For the Time Be-
ing as well as a number of es-
says and book reviews.

rt the
Students often complained that
Auden assigned excessive work.
He once assigned his class to
memorize the first twenty pages
of Dante's The Divine Comedy,
later reducingfthat requirement
to ten pages after failing in an
attempt to do it himself.
A UDEN WAS also criticized
by the Dean of Men and the
Dean of Women - often be-
cause of his lackidasical attitude,
allowing students to drink at
weekly get-togethers in his home.
A. K. Stevens, Emeritus Pro-
fesor of English Literature pro-
bably knew him best among the
few who knew his while he was
here. Stevens and his wife speak
of Auden as if they relish their
memories.
Auden was godfather to Mr.
and Mrs. Stevens' son, who was
named Wystan Auden Stevens in

his honor. Auden also wrote a
poem "Mundo et Enfants" for
the Stevens', which is about n
baby's birth.
Angeline Stevens was enrolled
in both of Auden's classes as i
was very close to him. Usually
he kept his work to himself, but
he often gave ,her his near-fin-
ished manuscripts and asked he
and her husband to comment on
them. Occasionally Auden would
change his poetry on the basis of
their suggestions.
Prof. Stevens recalls that Aud-
en came here with the strong
intention of obtaining U.S. citi-
zenship (which he finally receiv-
ed in 1946) and that he found
America to be a "breath of fresh
air".
Prof. Stevens also suggests that
Auden may have come to the
University for primarily finan-
cial reasons and admitsnt h i t
Auden may have left Ann Ar-
bor because it was too far from
the rich cultural possibilities i-
New York.
JEAN PAUL Slusser, whose
ome at 1223 Pontiac Trail
Auden rented during Fall 1941,
was "quite impressed with t h e
informality of his dress. Auden
wore peans at a time when stu-
dents and faculty just didn't wear
them."

Auden always preferred an in-
formal atmosphere - he refused
to work in his asigned office in
Angell Hall because he thought
it too sterile. He posted a sign
on his office door which read:
"I shall inhabit this hole as lit-
tle as posible or not at all."
In spite of his attraction to
natural surroundings, he always
retained a fascination for modern
technology. Slussen remembers
how Auden prided himself on the
fact that he first learned to
drive while he was here - even
though he was quite near-sight-
ed.
Poet Robert Hayden, who was
once enrolled in Auden's class,
remembers him as "An exam-
ple to my generation of poets.
We came to our maturity reading
Auden."
HAYDEN RECALLS that Aud-
en was very accessible as a
teacher and often gave him opin-
ions on his work. Nonetheless,
Hayden remembers that, Auden
could often be "vague and out-of-
this-world" - incommunicado
while he was concentrating on his
work.
"Auden was absolutely brilliant
and had an incredible knowledge
of literature and poetry, Hayden
says, "He was such a skilled
craftsman that even if you didn't
like his subject matter, you still
were forced to admire him."
Hayden admits that if Auden
can be faulted it's because
some of his work seems cold and
intellectual.
Although, according to Hay-
den, Auden never talked about
his own poetry in class,. and
rarely talked about "war, poli-
tics or anything of that kind," he
did mention his then-recent break
with Marxism, and his adaptation
of a philosophy of Christian Exis-
tentialis m.
T THAT point in his career,
Hayden says, Auden told his


Nov. 1, 4, 5,f6,7,8

7-9 p.m.


PAPERBACKS
A gourmet

s guide to

sex: P it your way

Joy Sex Edited by Alex Com-
for M. B., PhD.; Crown Publish-
ers Inc. New York 253 pages;
$12.95.
By GAYLE BENDEROFF
O WHAT'S cooking? The Joy
of Sex in a penetrating hard-
cover edition soon to be released
in a paperback to the hungry
masses. Don't tell me you've nev-
er heard of it. The big book has
been out for at least a year, and
Centicore tells me that their
stores keeps running out of
copies. They've hold hundreds.
The people who buy it on South
University ask for brown paper
bags. Those who purchase it
as the more sophisticated store
on Maynard Street walk out with
it exposed. And still others,
caught holding the book in either
store, say they could have sworn
it was Proust.
The stories about the people
who do and don't read. Joy of Sex
are probably as interesting as the
book itself. While I labored in
the library over this review, a
stranger tapped me on the shoul-
der and asked, "Are you writing
a paper on massage?" When I
told him what I was writing, he
just grinned: "I figure why
should I read about something

that I'm already good at?" I was
tempted to refer him to page 10,
-"A little theory that makes sex
more interesting, more compre-
hensible . .."
Those who do read Joy of Sex
probably keep it on their bed-
room shelves next to the Whole
Earth Catalogue and Total Or-
gasm. Still, as mymother inevit-
ably comments when she sprink-
les salt on soup that's already
been garnished: "Look, it can't
hurt." The same can be said
about reading Joy of Sex.
WHAT I find amusing about the
book is the author's insist-
ence that it's not one of those
"how to" books while simultane-
ously informing us how to cor-
rectly massage a penis, how .to
maneuver that first genital kiss,
how to tie someone to the bed-
post, how to do everything you al-
ways wanted to know how to do.
The financial motive is obvious.
You see, the only people who can
afford the hardcover edition of
Joy of Sex are those who would-
n't stoop to buying a mere "how-
to" book. I suspect that the ad-
vertising will change when the
book comes out in paperback.
What puts Joy of Sex one step
above the average sex manual is
the dimension of its message.

. x
With 253 pages and trendy illus-
trations (?) it tells us that sex
is best when it's effortless (figure
that one out). -We should make
love like a child plays - with
fun and imagination and lack of
forethought. I agree with that.
Whereas most sex manuals set
up a standard of normalcy, Joy of
Sex explicitly and unneurotical-
ly tells the reader to "play it
your way."
If you want to read a sex book,
this is the one. Dig kinky inspira-
tion? Try a transparent raincoat
or a mask. And if you're just
sick of the same old routine, you
might appreciate the suggestion
of mutual masturbation while
driving (with seatbelts, of course,
in the interest of safe highways).
The naked truth, however is that
read Joy of Sex, won't make you
have it. The test, finally, is in
the tasting.

KOO KS
What this book does offer is
handy hints - how to time it
right, who to do if you boil over
too quickly, and even methods
to get the heat going in the first
place. Take a peek at the table
of contents, and smack your lips
over niney-five condiments and
garnishes to the main course. The
easily identifiable illustrations
will help readers who have dif-
ficulty following recipes. No one
is hopelessly all thumbs. And
rest assured, "the worst you can
get is sore, anxious or disap-
pointed."
FOR THOSE of you whose gour-
met instincts aren't satiated,
the follow up to Joy of Sex is a
stimulgting halfihour television
show hosted by Graham Kerr,
replete with live studio audience.
Bon appetit.
Gayle Benderoff is a senior in
English who has twice read the Joy
of Cooking from cover-to-cover.
THIS BOY HAS
FOUND A HOME
ON SOUTH U.

class that he had learned, "You
can't fight political battles with
poetry."
Auden introduced students to
the thinking of existentialists like
Kierkegaard who were virtually
unknown and untranslated in
America at the time, raising
more than a few eyebrows on
campus by introducing such view-
points.
Nonetheless Mrs. Stevens notes
that, "He wasn't really known
here much at all at the time ...
He didn't seek a reputation; he
wanted his reputation to be bas-
ed solely on his abilities."
FOR MOST students back in
41-'42 Auden will be remem-
bered as that unassuming and
disheveled looking gent who juit
so happened to become one of
the great EngI-ish-language poets
of the twentieth century. For
the few who got to know him
well, their fleeting interactions
have left rich and permanent me-
mories.
Jeff Sorenson is a Daily staff
wuriter.

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Revising the Panther stereotypes

(Continued from Page 4)
1972 and activity outside the
courtroom makes the trial a
peripheral affair. McGovern is
trying to restore ties with Mayor
Daley and Hanrahan is cam-
paigning for re-election. The
trial is no longer important to the
public, and the original outrage
-the brutal attack on the Pan-
thers - seems a distant memory.
Fred Hampton himself is re-
duced to a chocolate stain (his
dried-out blood) on a white mat-
tress.
THIS TURNING away from hor-
ror, this mindless search for
sanctuaryin the business of the
day, is the American verdict.
Chicago is, after all, only a "par-
ticular American city at a par-
ticular moment in time." For the
author of Living - Room War,
an examination of television and
Vietnam, this attitude is not new:
this is not a nation, after all,
which sets huge value on a sense
of connection with the past, the
actual as opposed to the senti-
mental past. The moment is over.

Now we are in a new moment.
We were never in the old mo-
ment." In the 1960s, Americans
were forced to confront the an-
ger emanating from Hanoi and
the black ghettos, and having
peered once, they chose not to
do so again. "The children, or
many o fthem, haveccome back
down from the hills. We have
lowered our skirts. Raised our
sideburns. Proclaimed that we
are a bit wearied and preoccu-
pied, and leaving a number of
dead behind us and some strange
disconnected memories . . . we
are moving back to the business
of the country."
A RLEN'S. indictment, though
m o r e far ranging than
Kempton's, is yet purer and more -
direct. His tone is not one of
harshness or anger, but of sad-
ness and regret, and altogether
more appealing than Kempton's
wry acceptance. Arlen writes in
a simple, clear style, weaving
together scenes of Chicago that
make vivid and lingering impres-
sions. His approach is highly

cinematic. Kempton's style is
heavier - his sentences are con-
voluted and cumbersome, and his
lofty and affected prose jars with
the basic language of the Pan-
thers. He does not have the sense
of pace and sentence rhythm that
Arlen has, and his book suffers
for it.
The Briar Patch and An Amer-
ican Verdict, despite their dif-
ferent approaches, make an im-
portant contribution to the revis-
ing of the Black Panther myth,
portraying those black men and
women as more the menaced
than the menace of American
life.
Charles Storch is a graduate'
student in journalism.
1 8:30 $2.00
MON.-TUES.
BIFF ROSE

Try
Daily
Classifieds

WOMEN ARE ON THE G0
Do you have some time to join us to amend the city charter to
add initiative and referendum?
PETITIONERS ARE NEEDED;
1 hr., 2 hrs., or whatever time you have between now and
Dec. 1 5. To sign up and or ask more questions, call Rachel
Kamel, 769-2747 5-7 pm. or Robbie DiFrancisca, 663-6879
before 10a.m.
WOMEN'S POLITICAL COMMITTEE 
DIMENSIONS OF
RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE SERIES
presents
A Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Theological Dialogue
on
"The Sanctity of Human Life in the Light of Contemporary Violence"
with

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1313 SO. UNIV.

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TUESDAY
3:00-4:30
Nov. 6
Journalism Deal.

Specials This Week:
Tues.: Meat Loaf $1.40
Wed.: Homemade
Stew $1.40
Thurs.: Chinese Pepper
Steak $1.75
Fri.: Hulei Hulei Chicken
$1.95

Breakfast all day:
3 Eggs, Hash Browns,
Toast and Jelly $.95
Vegetable Tempura
(after 2:00)
3 Eggs, Rib Eye Steak,
Toast and Jelly $1.70

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M.A., Ph.D.-Director of the Islamic

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