Jean Arthur Books

In "'Doing Looks': Women, Appearance and Mental Health," Liz Frost addresses the troubled relationship between feminism and physical appearance, explores the possibilities of pleasure and power a woman might (or might not) harness by lavishing attention on her own attractiveness, and deplores the lack of discursive space for a woman to articulate her appreciation of her appearance. Instead of reading that attention-which she calls "doing looks"-as vanity or as the coerced obedience to misogynistic patriarchy, both models that induce shame and guilt and cast the woman in the role of passive consumer, Frost emphasizes the potential satisfaction of a woman's active involvement with her appearance. She contrasts second-wave feminism's criticism that "doing looks" signals conformity with mandated gender roles against psychiatric discourse that celebrates meeting those norms as a gauge of mental health and a means to repairing the fragmented relationship with the self. Her argument relies, perhaps too heavily, on an optimistic desire to locate agency and self-respect in the act of assimilating to cultural norms, as when she counters de Beauvoir and Mulvey by speculating "Could the internalized other of this version of gendered subjectivity perhaps be instead [of the beauty-fashion complex] the introjected loving parent, adoring boyfriend, benevolent woman friend or friendly mirror telling me I look great, and hence offering a considerable degree of narcissistic pleasure?"

DRAWING from the MODERN is the first of a three part series published by MOMA as catalogue to accompany the chronologically arranged exhibitions of their drawing collection; in part, celebration of the seventy fifth anniversary of the founding of the Museum.

This first book looks at the late nineteenth century through the beginning of the twentieth. Care and preservation of these drawings dictate that they are displayed infrequently, paper being a delicate medium, subject to fading, discoloration and brittleness. The publication of this series then allows us to have at hand a history of drawings seldom seen, and a visual education demonstrating how problems of that era both evolved and worked themselves out.

The introduction by Jodi Hauptman is broad and well worth reading. Aside from her entertaining "end of art" stories, she addresses artists and process leading to the dissolution of prevalent notions: relationship of "mark" to "ground", took new form; spatial notions of an orderly page, questioned; the element of chance, explored as process; the ego relationship of an artist to work, dissolving. New imagery happened: collage, abstraction, grids, enhanced emotions, metaphors of feeling, the sublime re-imaged. New subjects explored brutalities of war, notions of "city", identity, the spiritual, and the abstract.

As perhaps with all process of art, the uncertainty of change brought forth much that is new. The 139 plates of drawings both demonstrate and give testimony by leading artists of the time to new era in process. Drawing as subject matter is fascinating. To be expected, the book is well printed. Of course, what is book one without book two and three?

Nancy Gutrich

I purchased book 1 & 2 from Amazon. The illustrations are far too small to be a professionally represented art book from MOMA I've decided to save my money rather than pay out for the 3rd edition. It sounds a good buy from its description but I don't consider this trilogy to be very satisfactory.

This is not a good artbook. The images are way too small to be satisfying. This book could have been great, but falls way short of its potential. Don't buy it, you will be disappointed.

Norma Jean Lutz's The History of Third Parties is more apt to confuse than inform the young adult reader. This six chapter, 60-page title is not only unfocused, but critical information about United States government and history is absent.

Lutz neglects to explain the structures and laws under which political parties and elections operate. While the book uses "third-party" to describe minor parties, it fails to enumerate the two major parties and to indicate when they are in power. The greatest confusion comes in the section that describes members of the free-soil movement joining the new Republican Party in 1854. What were the major two parties before the mid-nineteenth century? Lutz doesn't tell the reader.

Lutz enumerates the "Third-Party Hurdles" which have limited the success of minor parties in the U.S. In this section, there is no description of the Electoral College. There is no explanation of "winner take all" elections. An understanding of the system's basic structure is fundamental to comprehending the challenges faced by minor parties. This material is not too advanced for the young adult reader, and the absence of such information promotes confusion rather than clarity.

Another shortcoming is the intermixing of terms. Descriptions of political parties, independent candidates, political factions, and social movements are treated synonymously. The book opens with a chapter dedicated to Ross Perot's 1992 presidential bid and Jesse Ventura's gubernatorial victory. Descriptions of Perot's personally funded candidacy and the Reform Party are commingled; no clarifications are made between individual candidates and the institutions of a political parties. Later in the book, abolitionists are described as a political party rather than a movement. While having many political implications, the abolitionist movement crossed many party and social lines.

Throughout the book, historical descriptions of political unfoldings are weak. Rather than presenting past actions or statements, Lutz attributes emotions and attitudes to significant political actors. In discussing conflicts between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, Lutz writes that President Washington "was greatly distressed over the conflict". There is no further mention of anything the president said or did in response. Rather the description continues that Jefferson "felt" and "believed" in the rights of men and that the ordinary people "hated" the Federalists (pp. 18-19). No writings, letters, or journals are cited to support these assertions. While these may be an accurate descriptions of their sentiments, it is not a sufficient substitute for describing their actions and public statements.

Imprecise language and inadequately defined terms leave readers guessing meanings throughout the book. A glossary provides definitions to only 12 terms. In one paragraph, readers are referred to the glossary for the term "political convention" but not referred anywhere to find out what or who "the Barnburners" and "Hunkers" might be. Phrases that might be unknown or unclear to young people are often used. To describe Roosevelt's entry in to the presidential race, Lutz only writes he "threw his hat in the ring" (p. 44). Unquantified descriptions such as "paupers' wages" and "unimaginable wealth" are meaningless to many as well (p. 33).

The most egregious issues of language are those that reflect racial and ethnic bias. The opening sentence of a section on the American party reads, "Yet another problem that arose during the 1840s and 1850s was that of record numbers of immigrants coming to this county." (p. 30) This anti-immigrant tone is further reflected in a discussion of the temperance movement, "More powerful were the large groups of immigrant drinkers. Theirs was the voice that moved the major parties." (p. 39) Certainly Irish and German immigrants were neither the central political force nor the only anti-temperance voice in the later half of the 19th century. Other potentially insensitive word usage includes "tramps" and "hoboes" instead of " the unemployed" and "homeless" (p. 34).

The History of Third Parties leaves more questions than answers for readers. The book meanders through U.S. political history uninformed and without focus. Look elsewhere for a history of minor parties and political movements in the U.S.