Thinking Out Loud: On the Personal, the Political, the Public, and the Private

Concerned as she is with all manner of conflicts between public and private issues represented in this collection of essays from her syndicated New York Times op-ed column, Quindlen ( Living Out Loud ) admits to viewing even non-feminist topics through ``the special lens of her gender.'' Sensitive to social and political trends and the ``shifting sands of geopolitics'' that propel events, she points out their cost in human terms, especially as they affect the excluded and abused. Violence, notes the author--sexual, racial or political, performed by individuals or in groups as members of sports teams, gangs, police or the military--is routinely glorified, whether in children's cartoons or adult soap operas. Equally effective are Quindlen's always superbly controled commentaries on lying, bigotry and moral hypocrisy among political, judiciary and religious leaders, and the cynical use of ideals to justify military incursions. Author tour. (Apr.)