The Shrapnel Academy

Fay Weldon. Penguin Books, $8.95 (192pp) ISBN 978-0-14-009746-7

Guests apostrophize epic battles, and mutiny is brewing in the servants' quarters at a party given at the Shrapnel Academy, which memorializes Henry Shrapnel, inventor of the exploding cannon ball. The ""versatile'' Weldon ``is in her element with this fiendish satire, inviting comparison with Swift's acid condemnation of Homosupposedlysapiens in Gulliver's Travels,'' PW stated. (April)

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