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Received

      Being a list of more books recently received at our offices. Most were published within the last twelve months, although works of previous years are included if they are of special merit, interest, design, or amusement.
      Books are graded as to quality of writing and elegance of thought. We also give stars for good or bad design.
      Readers should note that not all of the books we receive are reviewed: some are simply too dated, too bathetic, or too contentious for us to deal with.
       A listing here does not preclude a review in a subsequent issue of RALPH.

Content -
Style		 Design -
  Aesthetics  

 + + + 

 
Superb 

# # #

+ +

 
Very Good

# #

+

 
Ho-Hum

#

 
Ø

 
Not Worth
The Effort

 
Ø

 
NR


 Not Rated 

 
NR

The Career and Courage
of Christopher Reeve
byAdrian Havill
(Signet)
Just exactly what you would expect: a biography that misses the whole point about Reeve's new world --- and what is happening inside his head, and heart.
Ø    Ø
Poems Have Roots
by Lilian Moore
(Atheneum)
For kids. Not bad: sort of Edward Thomas (with a conscience) eighty years after; with dandy illustrations by Tad Hills.
++    ##
Floating Kingdom
byGeorge Rabasa
(Coffee House)
Lucio Seguila and his three daughters live on an island in the Rio Grande, between Mexico and the United States. A young gringo --- a pot smuggler named Simon --- is washed up in a storm, and just what you think will happen happens (between the young man and the young daughter "Luz.")
+    ##
The Hammon and the Beans
And other stories
by Américo Paredes
(Arte Público)
Seventeen border stories by a professor at the University of Austin, known for The Ballad of Gregoria Cortez.
++    #
Battlefield Ghosts
by B Keith Toney
(Rockbridge)
Toney --- amateur historian by trade --- visits 19 famous battlefields from the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, and discovers ghosts in all of them.
++    #
The Raven
by Peter Landesman
(Baskerville)
Mystery story about a missing pleasure craft from 1941.
+    ##
Only the Good Times
by Bruce-Novoa
(Arte Público)
Movie man falls in love with not-so-innocent girl named Anna Marisse and makes movies.
+    #
History and Legends of the Alamo
and other Missions in and around San Antonio
by Adina de Zavala
(Arte Público)
A reprint of the book from 1917 by a Mexican-American who worked diligently for the proper restoration of The Alamo and several other missions in the San Antonio area.
++    #
Dating
A Practical Guide for Men
byJoseph R. Jablonski
(Technical Management Consortium)
Filled with all sorts of dumb advice --- including "Preparing for the First Encounter" ("How do I get her into bed?") and "The Five-Date Process" ("Date #1...Date #2..." etc.)
Ø    Ø
Penalomah
The Eagle Soars
by Royal LaPlante
(Black Forest)
"A solitary figure gazed reverently at the imposing escarpment before him, pockets of snow still visible on its broad granite shoulders." No.
Ø    Ø
Radio Monitoring
The How-To Guide
by T. J. "Skip" Arey
(Index)
Mediumwave, shortwave, and VHF/UHF propagation, modes, monitoring techniques, clubs, and publications. With Appendix of equipment suppliers and bibliography
+    Ø
They Say That I Am Two
by Marcos McPeek Villatoro
(Arte Público)
Face en face --- English/Spanish --- poetry about Guatemala. Sad stuff, but it doesn't quite work:
    Rain fell. Someone was weeping
    I cannot say who. Analogies are never enough
    to explain purpose.
+    #
Lesbian Configurations
by Renée C. Hoogland
(Columbia)
Ms. Hoogland looks at various books and movies --- The Color Purple, Basic Instinct, Bitter Moon, and others --- to develop a theory of the representation of lesbians in modern culture.
+    #