W01\1EN ARE HUMAN

WOMEN'S STUDIES LIBRARY THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

Volume 7 November 17, 1978 Number 11

REVIEWS

other ways. She does not seem to in- Materials in the OSU Libraries about, tend to paint such a negative picture-- for and by women (the location is in- but negative it is. On the other hand, dicated above each number). To de- Goldsmith is aware of some of the pos- termine if a copy is available call 422-3900. sible psychological reasons behind the behavior of this rather bizarre person; the trouble is that she plays armchair psychiatrist too often. Then there is WOMEN'S Gilbert, Julie Goldsmith. Goldsmith's enormously annoying habit STUDIES Ferber, a biography. of repeating herself, and others, from PS3511 Garden City, New York, chapter to chapter and using incredibly E66Z8 G5 Doubleday & Co., 1978. pretentious language. She glibly uses "lagniappe"--a word I had to look up Edna Ferber's biography has been writ- in the dictionary--and frequently attri- ten by her great-niece, Julie Gilbert butes its use to others, as in this Goldsmith, who certainly seems to want sentence, allegedly spoken or written us to like Ferber, remember her for the by Kate Steichen, then an editor: many huge books she wrote, and gain " ••• At Doubleday we iust didn't take an insight into how Ferber lived on a any lagniappe or gravy from authors--let scale comparable to her books. These alone agents." My response to that books are huge in scope, and huge in comes from an old favorite line in the verbiage. Ferber comes off as huge in New Yorker magazine -- "Quotes we an extremely unpleasant temperament. doubt " She bought off everyone--her friends, her family, even casual acquaintances-- There is much of interest in this book with costly gifts. Then she enslaved, about Ferber, the times she lived in, making recipients pay homage to her and how she worked on her very good and e v ery whim and imagined need. famous books. But her niece overstates, overwrites, and ultimately bores. Too Ferber, as Goldsmith points out, fre- bad. Ferber would have hated boring quently was a genuine "character," and anyone. that may be why she had so many friends among the literary, theatrica l, elitist MIM world of her time. But she certainly was a difficult character, if this biog raphy is true. Mo st difficult were her constant rages, tantrums of amazing pro- FERBER BIBLIOGRAPHY portion; the s lightest offense was mag nified and brought on a Ferber storm. Edna Ferber was a surprisingly prolific Sh e ruined many an evening or dinner author, though many of her works are party among her friends by her raging little known. The titles listed are in anger and vituperative tongue. This chronological order. Sev eral are avail- biography does anything but make Ferber able in different editions with v arying : a person to be liked. call numbers; each title is listed only; once. Interester persons are e ncouraged Golds mith is filled with love, com- to check the Main Library public cata- passion, affection for the great-aunt log or LCS f or a more complete list of who h e lped her financially and in many editions a nd available copies . 2 PS3511 Ferber, Edna. EL140 Stage door. (With Georges. E66 03 Dawn O'Hara. 1911. F346St Kaufman). 1936. 1911 Novel; first publication. Play about the theater.

PS3511 Roast beef, medium. 1913. PS3511 Come and get it. 1936. E66R6 Short stories. E66 C6 Novel about Polish-Americans 1913 1935a working the Wisconsin lumber mills. PS3511 Personality plus. 1914. E66P4 Short stories. 1914 PS3511 The girls. 1936. E66 G53 Novel treating three genera- EL140 Emma Mcchesney & Co. 1915. 1936 tions of a family. F346Em Short stories.

PS3511 Fanny herself. 1917. PS3511 Nobody's in town. 1938. E66F3 Semiautobiographical novel. E66 N6 Short stories. 1917 1938a EL140 Half portions. 1920. F346Ha Short stories. PS3511 A peculiar treasure. 1939. E66Z53 Autobiography. EL140 $1200 a year. 1920. 1939 F346Tw Play. EL140 The land is bright. 1941. PS3511 Cheerful, by request. 1922. F346La Play; stunning failure. E66 C4 Short stories. 1918 PS3511 Saratoga trunk. 1941. E66 S3 Set in Saratoga, New York in PS3511 Gigolo. 1922. 1941 the lBBO's; later a Ferber- E66 G52 Short stories. Kaufman musical. 1922

EL140 Old man Minick. 1924. PS3511 Great son. 1945. F346 01 Short story, produced as play E66 G7 Novel about Seattle. Minick. 1945a

PS3511 So big. 1924. PS35ll One basket. 1947. E66 S61 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel E66 05 Short stories. 1924 about a woman truck gardener who sacrifices all for her PS3511 Giant. 19·52. s on. E66 GS Controversial portrayal of PS3511 Show boat. 1926. Texas life; later made into E66 S4 Life among a showboat troupe; movie featuring James Dean. 1926a produced as musical. PS3511 Ice palace. 1958. PS3511 Mother knows best. 1927. E66 12 Story of Alaskan frontier; E66 M6 Short stories. 1958 had a powerful influence upon 1927 statehood. Movie featured Richard Burton and Robert PS3511 Cimarron. 1930. Ryan. E66 CS Story of the 1889 Oklahoma land rush; produced a s movie. PS3511 A kind of magic. 1963. EL140 They brought their women. E66 Z52 Autobiography; much more preachy than Peculiar Treas- F346th 1933. 1963a !2_ Short stories. ure, not as successful.

EL140 American beauty. 1936. pp F346Am Nove l featuring Polish immi- grants in Connecti c ut. 3 WOMEN'S Forbes, Thomas Rogers. WOMEN'S Brant~, Charlotte. STUDIES The midwife and the witch. STUDIES Two tales by Charlotte Brottt~: RG950 New Haven, Yale University PR4165 "The Secret" and "Lily Hart." F6 Press, 1966. AG 1978 Columbia, Univ. of Missouri Press, 1978. Forbes has written a virtually unread- able book on what should be a fascina- This is a fascinating book for the ting subject. The author discusses Brent~ devotee. The two stories, writ- such diverse topics as superstition, ten by Charlotte Brant~ before she was sex reversal in animals, magic charms, seventeen, are presented both in edited and word derivation. Throughout this version and in facsimile of the originaJ convoluted tangle, one queries: what manuscript, particularly interesting is the thesis? What does this have to because the Brent~ juvenilia are char- do with witches and midwives? Forbes acterized by their minute size and al- starts out very cleverly with the quo- most microscopic handwriting. (The tation, "A whistling maid and a crow- editor tells us that this manuscript is ing hen are neither for gods nor men," four sheets of notepaper folded into but wanders off to analyze "pseudo- a sixteen-page book of four and one hermaphroditism, bilateral gynandro- half inches long and containing 19,000 morphs, the entomolcgical derivation words.) Part of a huge body of litera- of heifer, freemartin, rd.dgeling," and ture written by the Brent~ children, so on. Unfortunately, the disparate this manuscript was not available to elements of this work never congeal to scholars until 1973, having been a part form anything of substance. of the private collection of Evelyn Symington. LF MF "The Secret" and "Lily Hart" are val- uable mainly because they provide WOMEN'S Fine, Elsa Honig. hints of the creative energy and the- Women and art: A history of STUDIES matic interests of the later Brant~. N43 women painters and sculptors Set against backgrounds of bigamy, de- F56 from the Renaissance to the ceit, passion and suffering, these stor- 20th Century. ies foreshadow many of Bront~'s con- London, Allenhead and Schram, cerns in Jane Eyre. "The Secret" shows 1978. us a phase in the development of the Byronic character, Zamorna, who is the Ms. Fine asks in her introduction, prototype for the Rochester of Jane "Where is there a woman artist equal to Eyre. The original St. John Rivers, any man among the greatest masters?" also of Jane Eyre, appears in "Lily Her following chapters answer that Hart" as John of Fidena. question. Starting with the Italian Renaissance and working through to the Part of the literature involving the American and European modern art move- Bront~s' imaginary Kingdom of Angria, ments, Fine introduces the reader to these stories reflect the fantasy over one hundred women masters of art. world Charlotte Brant~ was later to There is a brief biography and a criti- renounce, describing it as "that burn- cal analysis of the work of each artist. ing clime where we have sojourned too Numerous quality illustrations of their long--its skies aflame ••. " art work increase understanding of the artists, as well as add to the physical Another work which more comprehensive- beauty of the book. ly presents the complex cycle of liter- ature that occupied the Bront~s in Fine has divided her readable and in- their early years is Fannie Ratchford's teresting text by historical periods. The Bront~s' Web of Childhood (Main, For each, she discusses the art of that PR4168R3). age, and the role and status of women in that period. This survey book is BR a valuable work for art historians, students of women's history, and all patrons of art.

PS 4 EDUCATION Van Alstyne, Carol, et al. Rachel, in The Jest of God (the film LB 2335.5 Administrative compensation Rachel, Rachel), for the spinster cs survey. Women and minori- schoolteacher; Hagar Shipley, in The ties in administration of Stone Angel, for the old woman facing higher education institutions. the reality of death; Morag, in The Washington, D.C., College and Diviners, for the novelist. Take~ University Personnel Associa- collectively, Laurence's major char- tion, 1977. acters offer an impressive statement; they "are all women seeking libera- This is the most depressing survey I tion." Furthermore, she has created have ever examined. The College and in her "Manawaka World" a place as vi- University Personnel Association, with brant and "real" for Manitoba as a grant from the Ford Foundation, has Winesburg was for Ohio. prepared the first comprehensive analy- sis of higher education administration Margaret Laurence, as is true for most which compares the employment patterns Canadian novelists, has a relatively and salary levels of women and minori- small American audience. I hope that ties with those of white men. White this collection of critical essays on men hold 79% of all administrative po- her life and work will help correct sitions, while women and minorities are that blind spot. I found the collection generally best represented in positions rather uneven with the first section, relating to student affairs and external "Roots and Continuities," of greatest affairs. Women, both white and minor- interest. William New seems to have ity, are paid only about 80% as much gathered together every piece of crit- as men with the same job title when em- icism available--including brief news- ployed by the same type of institution. paper and magazine reviews. Parts of The figures are not weighted for nonre- this book could provide a good intro- sponse, so the survey may show a higher duction to Margaret Laurence and her proportion of representation of women short stories and novels. Her artistry, and minorities and higher salaries than however, does not require an introduc- actually exists. In any event, a num- tion. ber of questions remain to be answered by further studies: How effective have ML affirmative action programs been in WOMEN'S Hoch-Smith, Judith and Anita attracting minority and women appli- STUDIES Spring, Eds. cants for administrative positions? BL458 Women in ritual and symbolic Does the apparent salary differential W65 roles. between minority men and all women New York, Plenum Press, 1978. administrators in white coeducational institutions mean greater recruitment This collection of essays documents efforts to attract the former? What cross-cultural roles of women in spiri- is the effect of adding women and minor tual contexts. Populations from Scot- ities to search committees for admini- tish Protestants to Asian midwives to strative positions? American Jews to African mediums are studied, making the book useful for a BM researcher of a particular culture or WOMEN'S New, William, Ed. a person interested in cultural anthro- STUDIES Ma~garet Laurence. New York, pology. In reading the book as a unit, PR6062 McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1977. however, it would be a mistake to skip A77 ZB the first chapter simply because it is M37 labeled "Introduction." This chapter provides the framework and major themes Margaret Laurence is for me one of the without which it would be difficult to finest of contemporary Canadian novel- integrate such diverse subjects and i s ts. Each of her Manawaka novels has cultures. created a heroine who can stand alone as an excellent character portrayal. Authors' styles and purposes differ Her heroines can also be embraced by markedly. Some write in complex an- women for speaking to and of our con- thropological jargon, others for inter- dition: Stacey MacAindra, in The Fire- ested lay readers. Most articles are Dwelle r s , for the subur ba n housewife; purely descriptive and interpr etive ; articles by the editors and by Patricia may be shown individually or as a Cleckner and Barbara Myerhoff are the series, with questions for follow-up only ones which attempt conscious fem- discussion provided in the viewing inist analysis. Spring examines spirit guide. The guide also features an anno- possession in an African community and tated bibliography. exposes some anthropological biases · along the way. Myerhoff writes about DM elderly Jews in the most readable essay of the collection. Hoch-Smith combines field observation with a rare analysis of contemporary West African literature in discussing Yoruba women. Cleckner's WOMEN'S Weingarten, Violet. contribution on rehabilitation programs STUDIES Intimations of mortality. for prostitute-addicts is so insight- PS3573 New York, Alfred A. Knopf, ful that it should be required reading 1978. for social workers. E396Z52 Violet Weingarten was a journal writer This book does not cover the spectrum who faithfully, and with great personal of theology and spirituality, but it dignity and honesty to self, recorded is an interesting contribution to our the last two years of her life. She thinking about women's roles in culture had once had surgery for cancer; she and religion. was never told the whold truth about her health, but she suspected. At mo- JB ments of total insight she knew, and WEST Women In Newspaper Management. she handled that knowledge the only way CAMPUS Bloomington, Indiana, Center she could--by writing about it. VIDEO For New Communications, TAPE Indiana University School of Reading this journal is, in some ways, PN4784 Journalism, 1978. like peeping inside the lighted win- W7W6 dows of a trusting friend's home. One v.1-v.8 feels a little guilty about it, partly because Weingarten is ambivalent through- Women In NewspaPer Management is a sev- out the journal about how much of it en-part videotape series (v.8 is a she wants to share. Several times she viewing guide) featuring programs on states that a reason for the journal is the future of women in newspaper manage- to provide notes for a novel she in- ment, social barriers in the business, tends to write. The book's forward management decisions and styles, pro- and afterward reassure us that she in- motion possibilities, legal and person- tended us to share this personal jour- al ramifications regarding sex dis- ney toward death; but they also reveal crimination and equal employment prac- that the writer never shared the in- tices. Prominent figures in the news- formation in it while she lived. The paper world (Patricia Carbine, Ms. journal was discovered after she was Magazine; Charlotte Curtis, New York gone, and even her family had the sense· Times; James Goodale, New York Times; of invading someone's privacy. Sheila Wolf, Chicago Tribune) explore and discuss timely and thought-provok- Having stated the case for ambivalence, ing issues as they relate to women in one can say that this book is binding-- this expanding and challenging field. the reader comes to know Weingarten so Men as well as women will benefit from well that it is hard to say goodbye. the points of view expressed on such One almost needs a memorial service to topics as management responsibilities draw this unique "friendship" to a in the hiring and promotion of women, close. Weingarten is a graceful writer women's management style, and legal who has deep dialogues with herself. recourse in s ex discrimination cases. She rants sometimes; at other times she shows enormous personal strength Women In Newspaper Management provides and dignity. She has great humor which excellent programming possibilities for frequently flashes through at moments those individuals and organizations in- of deepest depression--almost despair-- terested in journalism, women's studies and makes Weingarten endearing and fun and career education. The videotapes to be with. 6,...... ~~~~~~~~~~~~--,.--,---,~--,,-~,--~ There is a sadness about this book that were included. The novel is most nota- is separate from the fact that this tal- ble for its chilling portrayal of a ented woman suffered as she died, and child custody battle. This theme is died so young: she had to bear all of surprisingly contemporary, even if the this alone. In putting her struggle actual case is somewhat melodramatic. into the journal, she kept her family Carol's wealthy and vindictive husband and friends out. Surely there must be was able to use an unusual weapon in a way to combine both journal and fami- his fight--a private "bugging" expert-- ly so that the dying process can, in at but this chronicle of pride vs. homo- least a small sense, be shared with the phobia is otherwise disturbingly realis- . ones we love. tic.

A note to those who may wonder: this JB book is not depressing; it is full of the life of Weingarten's final years. WOMEN'S Gould, Carol C. and Marx W. There is a special quality about it that STUDIES Wartofsky, eds. made me feel I had a new friend while I HQ1154 Women and philosophy: Toward read it. I felt the loss when the W878 a theory of liberation. journal ended. 1976 New York, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1976. MIM WOMEN'S Highsmith, Patricia Gould and Wartofsky have produced an STUDIES (Claire Morgan, pseud,). anthology that attempts to clarify some PS3558 The price of salt. of the fundamental philosophical concep- I366P7 New York, Arno Press, 1975. tions about women through analysis 1975. and critique of existing theory and the construction of new theory. This an- This novel is part of Arno's 56-volume thology critiques philosophy through reprint series of fiction, non-fiction four theme sections: methodological and documents on Lesbians and homo- issues, historical critique, analysis sexuals. The consulting editors have and critique of the present, and the used diverse criteria in selecting future. volumes, and the cause of cultural pre- servation is well served even if "great The authors pose some interesting literature" is not always the result. questions, critiques and alternatives.

The Fifties are remembered as a re- PWL pressive period, but the decade is also WOMEN'S Webber, Jeannette L. and Joan notable for a boom in pulp novels, es- STUDIES Grumman, Eds. , pecially those with Lesbian characters. PS508 Woman as writer. Dozens of gay paperbacks appeared in W7W57 New York, Houghton Mifflin, the Fifties, representing both serious 1978. novels and porn produced for males. Whatever the sociological reasons for This anthology includes poems, stories this new interest, the literary paper- and excerpts from fiction and non-fie backs have at least historical value. fiction which center around the portray The Price of Salt, published in 1952, al by women writers of women writing. is not great literature, but it is While all the major women writers of interesting, well-written, and worthy the 20th century are represented (from of Arno's rescue from obscurity. Virginia Woolf to Erica Jong, from the sublime to the ridiculous?), and while Highsmith's writing will keep you in- the anthology might make an interesting terested in, yet curiously detached and useable text for an introductory from the characters. Some characters college course or high school class in have a fascinating tension, while women and literature, it suffers, like others seem one-dimensional. We the majority of anthologies, from a lacK never learn what motivates and ani- of depth. A Room of One's own, tele- mates them, and this is frustrating scoped to eight pages, cannot provide when it occurs with a major character. the experience of the whole. The plot is sometimes contrived, and it is not always clear why some incidents BR 7 ANNOUNCEMENTS I

OSU GAINS RARE BOOKS WEECN SEEKS INFORMATION ON WOMEN'S STUDIES PROGRAMS AND COURSES The Women's Studies Library recently obtained 224 volumes from Isis Books, The Women's Educational Equity Communi- a women's collection gathered over a cations Network is collecting materials number of years. related to women's studies departments and programs throughout the nation. Six of the books were selected for the WEECN will use the information collect- Rare Book Room. First editions in~ ed to furnish their users with up-to- elude: Leaves from Margaret Smith's date, complete information on the scope Journal in the Province Of Massachu- of Women's Studies. Instructors, in- setts Bay, 1678-9, published in 1849; stitutions, and programs are asked to Letters of Lady Montague Written During send copies of brochures, degree re- Her Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa, quirements, course descriptions, and published in 1794; and Lady Byron Vin- course syllabi to Kathryn Cirksena, dicated, a defense of Lord Byron's wife WEECN, 1855 Folsom St., San Francisco, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in Ca., 94103. Write to the same address 1870. There are two limited editions-- to be placed on the mailing list for a 1941 version of Edna Ferber's novel WEECN's extremely useful newsletter, Saratoga Trunk and an illustrated life Network News and Notes. of Jean Mance, Angel of the Colony, a Montreal pioneer nurse and hospital founder, 1642-73. Of interest in the DIRECTORY OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AD- history of book publishing is a pub- MINISTRATORS SOLICITS ENTRIES lisher's dummy of The Beautiful Life of Frances Willard (1898) which in- A directory of women administrators cludes examples of spine, bindings, of vocational education is being com- and book orders. These volumes may piled by the National Center for Re- be examined in Special Collections, search in Vocational Education. The Room 327. project directors request that n~mes of eligible administrators be sent to: VR Novella Ross, NCRVE, The Ohio State University, 1960 Kenny Road, Columbus, OH. 43210

ORGANIZATION TO HONOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN IN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE:

Women Educators offers a cash award for JAN BRITTAN, Office of Women's Studies the best research on any aspect of LINDA FREY, University of Montana women in education conducted and/or MARSHA FREY, Kansas State University writte~ in 1977/78 . Published and PHYLLIS WATTS LAFONTAINE, Office of unpublished research projects are eligi- Women's Studies ble . A presentation of the winning re- MARTHA LAWRY, Catalog Division port will be requested for the annual BETH r.K:NEER, Educational Administration me eting of the American Educational Re- MARY IRENE MOFFITT, Office of Women's search Association in April, 1979, in Studies San Francisco. Submit three copies DEBBIE MURRAY, West Campus Learning (include the author's name on only one Resources Center copy) of entries and a 200-250 word PENNY PEARSON, Undergraduate Library abstract by January 10, 1979 to: Dr. Maija S. Blaubergs VIRGINIA REYNOLDS, Women's Studies Coordinator-Elect, Women Educators Library 324 Aderhold BARBARA RIGNEY, Women's Studies and University of Georgia Comparative Studies in the Humanities Athe ns, Ga . 30602 PENNY SPRATLEY, Personnel Services STAFF;

JAN BRITTAN, Office of Women's Studies, Editor

JOAN FRERICKS, Office of Women's Studies

VIRGINIA REYNOLDS, Women's Studies Library

WOMEN ARE HUMAN SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM WOMEN ARE HUMAN is a monthly publication from the Women's Studies Library and the Office of Women's Studies at the Ohio State University. Readers are invited to D I do not have an OSU campus address. send announcements for inclusion, or other correspondence to: Women·s Studies Enclosed is my check/money order for $5.00, Library, 240 Main Library, 1858 Neil Avenue Mall, Columbus. OH 43210 !phone: 614-422·3035). payable to Ohio State University. D This is a campus mail address at OSU. This publication is on file with the International Women's History Archive, Special Col- No payment is required. lections Library, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60201: issues through June 1974, are available on microfilm from the Women's History Research Center, 2325 Oak Street, Berkeley, CA 94 708.

Subscriptions are $5.00 per year for individuals. libraries, and institutions not located on the Ohio State University campus. WOMEN ARE HUMAN is sent free of charge to any campus address at the Ohio State University serviced by Campus Mail. Copies are also available at the following campus locations: Browsing Room, Undergraduate Library, West Campus Learning Resources Center. Home Economics Library, Education !off-campus include zip code) Library, Office of Women's Studies 1134 Derby Hall), and Women's Services 1408 Ohio Union). Return this order form to: Women's Studies Library, 240 Main Library, 1858 Neil Avenue Mall, Columbus, OH 43210.

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