Having Everything
by John L' Heureux, professor of English
Atlantic Monthly Press, 1999; $24 (fiction).
As the title suggests, protagonist Philip Tate seems to have it all. He is handsome, the father of two lovely children attending prestigious colleges, and he's married to a smart, beautiful (and, oh yes, alcoholic) woman. On the night of his appointment to a chair in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, a position that puts him in the running for dean, Tate revisits a boyhood compulsion to break into other people's houses. He enters the home of a new colleague and encounters the man's drunken wife. Tate's actions send his family's world spinning into chaos. The novel explores what could make a man jeopardize his success -- and why having everything sometimes isn't enough.
The Real Deal: The History and Future of Social Security,
by Sylvester J. Schieber and John B. Shoven, '62, PhD '69
Yale University Press, 1999; $18.95
(economics/U.S. history).
Two economists explain what's wrong with America's social security system and how they would fix it. As long as the labor force expanded and wages grew, they observe, one generation's retirement could easily be underwritten by those still in the workforce. Indeed, the government was able to pay successive generations far more in benefits than they had put in. But, like a pyramid scheme, the system will collapse when withdrawals routinely exceed contributions. This is expected as baby boomers retire. Schieber, a Washington, D.C., consultant, and Shoven, a Stanford economics professor, have a solution: require individuals to contribute to their own private retirement savings accounts while doubling those nest eggs with matching federal dollars and giving account holders considerable say in how the funds are invested.
Turtle Island: Tales of the Algonquian Nations,
by Jane Louise Curry, MA '62, PhD '69
Simon & Schuster, 1999; $17
(children's folklore).
The crow is black because he selflessly carried fire to Earth. After the Great Flood, land formed again from the shell of a huge turtle. Deer have short tails because they were kicked in the rear by a hunter avenging his sister's kidnapping. Those are three of the legends in this collection for children, gathered from the storytelling traditions of the Lenapé, Cheyenne, Shawnee and other American Indian tribes that lived along the Atlantic coast and as far west as Montana. The 27 tales include creation stories, cautionary fables, and legends of heroes and tricksters, all told in a simple, engaging style and illustrated with black-and-white drawings by James Watts.
Women Who Stay with Men Who Stray
by Debbie Then, MA '81, MA '83, PhD '86
Hyperion, 1999; $23.95 (marriage).
Some wives resign themselves to it; some wage war against it; some take their own lovers; some simply split. A cheating husband can be a woman's worst nightmare, yet most men see male infidelity as no big deal, laments social psychologist Then in this straight-shooting self-help book for women. A consultant specializing in women's self-images and relationships, she gathered hundreds of anecdotes from wives and husbands to explore why men cheat, why so many women put up with it and what wives can -- and can't -- do about it. (For instance, they can't change the man's behavior, she insists.) This is not a how-to book for rebuilding a marriage. On the contrary, the author counsels, "Life is too valuable to waste on a philandering husband."
