Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 13, 1994 TAG: 9402060198
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
By Ben Yagoda. Knopf. $27.50.
This book is a 300-plus page biography that's broad in scope and ambitious in its goals. Ben Yagoda, a journalist and professor at the University of Delaware, focuses on Will, as he calls his subject, as the homey, relaxed, down to earth cowboy. He was one of America's greatest satirists, sparing no person, institution or norm his scintillating wit.
After tracing Will's background in the Indian Territory as a cowboy and then his stint on the rodeo circuit, Yagoda skillfully crafts Will's persona as he rises to fame in vaudeville, the Ziegfield Midnight Frolic and then Follies, as newspaper and radio pundit, and Will's little known movie career. Will steps right out from the pages to greet the reader. Particularly interesting is Yagoda's reflection on Will's playing upon the times and the public's longing to return to a simpler past in place of the discordant changes that were taking place in America during the early decades of this century. My only criticism would be that except for Will's courtship of his wife, the book scarcely touches upon Will as the family man. Certainly this is a facet that would help the reader round off an understanding of Will Rogers. Regardless, it's a great read.
- RICHARD JASSE
There's No Such Thing as Free Speech . . . and It's a Good Thing Too.
By Stanley Fish. Oxford University Press. $25.
Stanley Fish is not now and probably never will be a household name. Even those who know him and respect him seem to have a hard time saying exactly what it is about him that both delights and annoys them. What Stanley Fish is doing in his quiet and thoughtful (though some would say loudly obnoxious) way is redefining the methods and terms by which we debate law, culture and academia. In other words, he is laying the groundwork for a truly revolutionary review of the way we talk and think about ourselves.
Renowned in English studies as a Milton scholar and former (controversial) head of the English department at Duke University, Fish is known to the larger population as a critic of law and culture. This latest book is a collection of his essays on such subjects as the recent neoconservative backlash, the impossibility of anything but political correctness, the debate over including ethnic and gender studies in the undergraduate curriculum and the movement for reform of legal studies. Throughout this book, Fish is not interested in coming down on one side or the other of the debate. Instead he suggests that neither side is benevolently apolitical nor argues from a merely rational or moral standpoint. In his witty and penetrating way, Fish shows how all positions of debate are politically based and cannot be any other way. It is his ability to point out the self-serving of both sides that has made him a scourge of both the left and the right.
Fish's writing is surprisingly clear and lucid, though extremely dense. This is not after dinner or just before bed reading. But if you want to know more about the debate that is about to boil off our campuses and start effecting our lives, "There's No Such Thing as Free Speech" is the place to start.
- KENNETH LOCKE
Presumption: An Entertainment.
By Julia Barrett. Evans. $19.95.
Authors Gabrielle Donnelly and Julia Braun Kessler are "Julia Barrett" in their "sequel to `Pride and Prejudice'," so aptly titled "Presumption." It is, of course, presumption to add to or to alter what is considered by many to be a literary masterpiece. Presumption apart, however, one must admit that the novel does maintain characters and a plot consistent with Jane Austen's novel.
In "Presumption," Elizabeth Bennet, now happily married to Darcy, has the care of her lovely young sister-in-law Georgiana Darcy, who has foresworn love due to her earlier near-disaster with George Wickham. A couple of would-be suitors, however, test her resolve. The Bennets also face problems with their never- totally-satisfactory social standing, and daughters still need to find husbands. The shallowness of many of the characters remains true to Austen's form, but the bite of the original seems lacking in the sequel. Austen's novels ended in symbolic happy endings involving marriage. "Presumption" ends similarly, but one cannot help but wonder why Elizabeth's now happily-married state needs problems involving haughty in-laws and others of her new husband's world. This novel also lacks the economy of Austen's style, and Austen's plot never tended to drag as if caught on literary brambles.
Julia Barrett's aim, happily, seems to pay homage to Jane Austen. In that light, "Presumption" may be enjoyed. The reader might even turn to the originals by one of the first female writers of note in the English language.
- HARRIET LITTLE
Richard Jasse teaches at Ferrum College.\ Kenneth Locke is a Radford pastor.\ Harriet Little teaches at James River high school.
by CNB