Imaginary Homelands (review)

reviews 167 Martz's observation about the lack of writing from the aforementioned professions points to another related issue—perhaps more "social" than "literary"—in the anthology. In addition to a documentary, Martz states in her foreword that she is interested in using the book to provide role models for readers. Martz says she hopes that the images in the book will "inspire readers to explore, literally and figuratively: What I could do, /// Had a Hammer." On the whole, the jobs represented here are working-class or pink collar; even when the woman involved is educated and/or middle or upper-middle class, she is rarely successful in or pleased with her "work," however broadly defined. Most of the stories and poems are about "empowerment," as Martz claims, but few are about sympathetic women in conventional roles of vocational power, status or decision-making. Martz's twin goals to offer both a social document and a set of empowering examples are, perhaps, at odds. Several pieces portray women in charge who are either uncaring widows-cum-bosses or voracious and obsequious middle-level monsters (usually in personnel departments). Many of the mothers in the anthology also seemed at a loss to perform "powerfully" in their roles. Children are often over-indulged and more in control than their parents. Even the exceptions to this "rule" are disheartening. For instance, in "For Love or Money," the female supervisor in the Division of Motor Vehicles gets told by a female friend that she has a worse job than a used car salesman. As "role models," the women in these stories and poems do not offer much in the way ofexamples for dealing effectively with vocational power. One story with a sympathetic and powerful woman is Barbara Unger's "Search Committee." Miss Wanamaker, an applicant for a college teaching job, has just decided to play down her feminist background, in hopes of getting a full-time position. At the interview, Wanamaker recognizes one of the men on the search committee, Dick Warren; she realizes that she had had a one-night stand with him years before. He recognizes her, too, and tries to sabotage the interview by criticizing a female poet whose namesake award Wanamaker had received. The interview is saved by Darlene Karlen, the female chair of the English department, who steps in to quiet Dick. Miss Wanamaker thinks she has found a friend —and a job—in Darlene, only to discover at the end of the interview that Darlene and Dick are married. Wanamaker realizes that her chances of getting the job are slim, even though Darlene says that she makes the final decision. Of all of the pieces in the anthology, "Search Committee" is the only one that could have definitively showed the Darlenes—and not just the Dicks—calling the shots, but the story ends inconclusively. If one concern in creating this type of book is to also create role models, then the shortage of sympathetic women in positions of authority seems particularly critical. The "role models" in the anthology stereotypically suggest that either power turns women into women-hating beasts, or that powerful women are "really" only ineffectual fronts for men. /// Had A Hammer includes many pieces that attempt to overturn certain stereotypes of women and work—primarily of the physical abilities of women to excel at skilled labor or "men's work"—but women who effectively wield power in other professions are conspicuously absent. If texts create workers, just as workers create texts, the dearth of powerful professional women is the anthology's most unfortunate flaw. DEVONEY LOOSER Imaginary Homelands by Salman Rushdie. New York: Viking/Granta Books, 1991. 432 pp. $24.95 (cloth). And what a fall it was, comrades. Nicaragua, Berlin, even the fucking Albanians; and then Gorbi threw in the hammer and sickle too. Leaving only the fundis to oppose western capitalism: Hindu fundamentalists in India, Sinhala and Tamil fundamentalists in Sri Lanka, the Khmer Rouge, mullahs all over the Muslim world... 168 the minnesota review For those of us uncomfortable with both, the question arises: What to do ? Salman Rushdie, whose nonfiction over the post decade has been collected in this volume, responds that...