tibetan buddhism, hinduism, how to think like a millionaire, millionaires, dangerous places, okies, radio broadcasting, H. L. Mencken

R A L P H
The Review of Arts, Literature, Philosophy and the Humanities Volume XIV, Number 1 --- Spring, 1998

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NEW LISTINGS
Books that have been sent to us
within the last fortnight or so, including:
The World's Most Dangerous Places,
The Bliss of Inner Fire,
and the poetry of William Stafford.
MORE NEW LISTINGS
How To Think Like A Millionaire,
From the Heart: The Power of Photography,
and The Hindu Way of Awakening

REVIEWS
American Radio, 1946
Part I "When you first turned the Philco on,
the glassine separators inside the 6SJ7's
would burn blue for a moment, then settle down
to reflect the deep russet pouring out of the filaments."

GREAT REVIEWERS OF THE PAST
H. L. Mencken on Christian Faith "How is it possible for a human brain to be divided
into two insulated halves, one functioning normally, naturally,
and, at times, brilliantly, and the other
capable of the ghastly balderdash
which issues from the minds of Baptist evangelists?"

Breaking the Impasse in the War on Drugs "The War on Drugs inevitably is a losing and destructive policy;
it reflects a set of unconscious, prejudicial attitudes...
Breaking the impasse requires a new paradigm
of individual responsibility for drug control."

BRIEF REVIEWS
Free Government Money, Tibetan Buddhism,
James Purdy, and Dreams

MORE BRIEF REVIEWS
Working Class Lovers, Agent Orange,
Nuclear War, and Guilt

THE WEEKLY RALPH "...especially the donkeys, with their sweet long drawn out cry of despair.
We English-speakers write it as "Hee-Haw,"
but nothing could be further from the truth.
It is, instead, a pained AIEEE-AIE-AIE, ending in a soulful OH-OH-OH."

ARTICLES Swallowing the Rototiller "It was there that I first took an interest in cooking.
I started with chicken noodle soup done in the can,
a pair of pliers as a handle. Later I experimented
with adding chopped wieners. "

Whigs 'N' Prigs Boswell: "It may be of use, Sir, to have a Dictionary
to ascertain the pronunciation."
Johnson: "Why, Sir, my Dictionary shows you the accent of words, if you can but remember them."
Boswell: "But, Sir, we want marks to ascertain the pronunciation
of the vowels. Sheridan, I believe, has finished such a work."

Predialectic Libertarianism and Nihilism "In the works of Madonna, a predominant concept
is the distinction between creation and destruction. Therefore,
the feminine/masculine distinction depicted in Sex
is also evident in Sex."

READINGS
Driving (1896) "Some credit is due to the motorists of those days.
It was rarely that one reached one's destination.
As a matter of fact, only the incurable optimist ever tried to."
Anorexia Case #1: Pia
"We now come to a clinical example that illustrates
our method of intervening in the most rigid
possible type of family organization:
a family with an adolescent anorectic member."
Thoreau the Buddhist
"One might say that Thoreau was pre-Buddhist...
He forecast an American Buddhism by the nature of his contemplation,
in the same way that a certain quality of transparent predawn
forecasts a clear morning. "

POETRYThree from Actualities

"when my love comes to see me it's
just a little like music, a
little more like curving colour (say
orange)
    against silence, or darkness . . . .
the coming of my love emits
a wonderful smell in my mind"

Four from Actualities
"if i should sleep with a lady called death
the phonograph's voice like a keen spider skipping
a blue woman with sticking out breasts hanging clothes
when you went away it was morning (that is, big horses)"
Jazzonia
"Oh, silver rivers of the soul!
In a whirling cabaret
Six long-headed jazzers play."

LETTERS
"The suggestion that a person would purposefully
bring his or her self to the brink of death
just for the attention is demeaning and disrespectful. Very rarely
does one engage in self-destructive behavior for the sole purpose
of punishing or manipulating family members."

ARCHIVES This will lead you back through previous issues of RALPH
(at least as far back as Winter, 1994 - 1995.)

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Titles, authors, and publishers
of all books reviewed in RALPH ---
arranged chronologically.
1995    1996    1997    1998

T H E F A C T S Submitting Books The best way to get books to RALPH for review. Submitting Reviews Suggestions for would-be reviewers --- and payment schedule. History RALPH 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 Fund Other activities of RALPH's godparents, including Mho & Mho Works

Ralph R. Doister, Editor-In-Chief Post Office Box 16719
San Diego CA 92176 poo@cts.com
THE OFFICIAL RALPH
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