PARTISAN REVIEW
473
the kids a nd enters psycho therapy. And, as Miriam goes under, Beth brea ks out
in to commune life, lesbiani sm and politica l resistance, achieving a tentative
but rewarding secu rity living in Clevela nd under an assumed name with her
da ncer-orga ni zer fri end and the la ller's children.
None o f this is much fun to fo llow, pa rtl y beca use Piercy's people lead
ha rd and unhappy lives, which is fair enough, but p a rtly because she's de–
termined to have her characters a rti cul ate their every motive in long, serious,
search ing ta lks abo ut themselves and their problems:
'" don 't wa nt to be poor, if the truth be known . I want to li ve comfortabl y.
I'm ti red of the ha lf-life o f a slUdent. I wa nt lO be able lO help my fri ends
when they need help. I walll
LO
buy illleresting clothes. I'm sick o f ea ting
in greasy spoons. I don 't wa n t a lot o f money, Allegra, rea ll y. I just want a
decent living . , want th e things tha t ma ke life p leasa nt. When I boVght
tha t recond itioned a ir conditioner for fi ft y do lla rs, do you know what a
change tha t made in my life? This room gets ho t in the summer, believe
me, r ight up under the roo f. I had eno ugh ha rd times growing up."
T hi s is Miriam , and the passage is diagramma ti ca ll y ri ght-her wants, none
of them unreasonable a lone, ye t point lOwa rd the compromise with social
comforts tha t fin a ll y undoes her. But the vo ice is too fl at and sketchy, the mind
behind it incomp letely imagined; conversa tion in the book is a vehicle for
deha te about " life," no t th e drama tic record of conflicting feelings; everyone
lis tens and rep lies
lo
everyone else, people a lways say what they mean , a nd I
suppose that Piercy would thin k it illegitima te authoria l intrusion
lo
a llow
int o such a passage th e lillie inadvertent, o nly partly conscious, nea rly irrele–
va nt priva te q ui rks o f speech tha t co ul d have turned it into a Chekhovian a ria
of self-revelation.
T he virtue of Piercy's method is tha t it's consistentl y compassiona te and
fair to the novel's people, a ll of whom get room to work out their own terms
for themse lves. But the method a lso suggests a suspicion o f words, a fear tha t
most o f wha t rea ll y ma llers will get messed u p if an ything more than the
simp les t opera tions of language (which a re also the longest and mos t tedious)
arc performed. Phil , Mi riam 's fi rst
love,
embillered by p ubli c and p ri va te di–
sas ter, turn s from poetry
lo
furniture making, with the author's appa rent
blessing, and Miriam herself comes as close as she ever gets
lo
an adequate
occupa tio n when she and Phil se t up as bakers of homemade bread fo r the
loca l trade. Though Piercy n ever overtl y endorses this familia r and sadl y inno–
cent in sistence tha t life is simpler and better than our ways o f describing it, the
book adds up
lo
something close
lo
endo rsement.
T he p rac tica l equiva lelll
lo
a word less life would I suppose be a life
who ll y outside the deceptive complica ti ons o f the norma tive socia l, po litica l
and iamilia l voca bula ries, some "countercultura l" existence of the sort tha t
Miriam lose and Be th preca riously finds; onl y there can women , and men too,
