The Wright Brothers, Viet Nam, and S. J. Perelman

R A L P H
The Review of Arts, Literature, Philosophy and the Humanities Volume XI, Number 1 --- Spring, 1995

FREE BOOK
Subscribe to RALPH at the regular rate of $10 a year
and win a free copy of one of Mho & Mho's titles.
Leave your mailing address in our box
and we'll send it to you posthaste.

THE ARCHIVES
Previous Issues of RALPH

REVIEWSWind & Sand"They spent a total of eleven years being eaten alive by mosquitoes,
begging money from the family,
and painstakingly experimenting with gliders."
Two on Vietnam"The real traitors? Of course ---
the American people themselves, wimps with a
positively weird distaste for blood and gore and death."

The Field Guide to North American Males"My daughter's book offers handy descriptions
of over 50 species of boys."

A History of Reading "Remember that noisy Angie Peters who sat in front of
our sixth grade class and always waved his hand in the teacher's face?"

FOUR BRIEF REVIEWSBy Jon Gallant"My view is that tinkering with the English language
should be regulated every bit as strictly
as trade in controlled substances."

ARTICLESLetter from Mexico"He tells me that there is a soup that they make called
Sopa de Sancudos --- Mosquito Soup."

READINGS Call It SleepBy Henry Roth"One kid, one only kid. And a dog came and bit the cat
that ate the kid that my father bought for two zuzim."

Rats, Lice, and HistoryBy Hans Zinsser"If lice can dread, the nightmare of their lives is the fear of someday
inhabiting an infected rat or human being."

The Space MerchantsBy Frederick Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth"I was becoming the kind of consumer we used to love.
Think about smoking, think about Starrs, light a Starr.
Light a Starr, think about Popsie, get a squirt."

POETRYThe River Merchant's Wife: A Letter "While my hair was still cut straight across my forehead
I played about the front gate, pulling flowers.
You came by on bamboo stilts, playing horse..."

anyone lived in a pretty how town "anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating so many bells down)"

THE FACTSSubmitting Books for ReviewThe best way to get books to RALPH for review.If You'd Like to Review a BookSuggestions for would-be reviewers --- and payment schedule.HistoryRALPH didn't spring full-blown from the brows of the gods:We've been around (in different guises) for over twenty-five years.The Fessenden FundOther activities of RALPH's godparents, includingMho & Mho Works

Ralph R. Doister, Editor-In-ChiefPost Office Box 16719
San Diego CA 92176poo@cts.com
THE OFFICIAL RALPHPARADOX-OF-THE-MONTH
The next issue of RALPH Go up The most recent issue of RALPH